On 1 December last year, Oxford University Press announced “rage bait” as the Word of the Year for 2025. Public voting revealed a sharp rise in its usage, referring to provocative online content including videos, posts, images and headlines designed to deliberately incite anger and division in order to boost clicks and engagement. 

The primary goal is to manipulate strong emotional reactions to drive interaction (clicks, comments, shares, views), a behaviour often rewarded by social media algorithms with greater visibility.

In an era where anyone can become an influencer, content creators increasingly resort to extreme tactics to capture attention and monetise their platforms. 

These include fraudulent schemes, dangerous challenges, sexually suggestive material, and the deliberate provocation of conflict and hatred, all in exchange for traffic and followers.

The relentless bombardment of social media content erodes attention spans and undermines deep thinking. This is why anger-driven content is so “effective” – it exploits both human psychology and algorithmic logic. 

Such content triggers the brain’s fight-or-flight response, pushing individuals into emotional reactivity rather than rational judgment. Intense negative emotions like anger are highly engaging, prompting users to comment and share impulsively.

Meanwhile, platform algorithms amplify this reactive engagement, prioritising emotional responses over reflective thought. Content creators benefit from increased views, followers and even financial rewards, as negative attention still translates into profit. 

This mechanism leverages the innate human negativity bias and the psychological need for social validation when facing perceived threats.

Mental health consequences

However, repeated exposure to inflammatory content can have serious mental health consequences, including chronic stress responses, emotional exhaustion, heightened anxiety and depression, and hypervigilance towards conflict. 

For individuals already under psychological strain, including those with trauma histories or emotional vulnerabilities, the harm is even greater, as their nervous systems struggle to regain calm and safety.

Recognising these risks, the Australian government has banned social media use for children under 16 to protect them from harmful content and to address rising rates of self-harm and suicide.

Read more: The under-16s social media ban will damage young people’s political education

The progression from Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year, “brain rot”, to 2025’s “rage bait” signals a systemic crisis driven by digital misuse. 

From mental fatigue and cognitive decline caused by excessive consumption of low-value content such as fragmented short videos and low-quality memes, to the amplification of negative emotional reactions by social media platforms, these trends reveal the profound impact of the digital environment on human psychology and behaviour.

In reality, many children today are so dependent on screens that they cannot eat without a tablet or phone, and some even have emotional meltdowns when these devices are taken away. 

At the same time, more kindergartens are incorporating AI into curricula, even teaching toddlers who have yet to master language how to use tablets and AI tools. This trend is deeply concerning.

The separation of technology

Undeniably, digital literacy and AI skills are essential for learning and employment today and in the future. However, effective technology use must be clearly distinguished from social media and gaming addiction. 

Moreover, technological advancement cannot replace the unique cognitive and reflective benefits of deep reading.

Parents bear the responsibility to not only teach and supervise children’s use of digital devices, but also to model healthy behaviour, as children often imitate parental habits. 

Technology is a double-edged sword, as it can enhance learning and productivity, but it can also lead to attention fragmentation, emotional dysregulation, addiction and mental health challenges.

As we step into a new year, perhaps it’s time to intentionally slow down, pick up a book, practise mindful and disciplined technology use, and rediscover the ability to focus, reflect and find inner calm through deep reading and meaningful human connection. 

Together, we can move toward a healthier, more purposeful life.

May future Oxford Words of the Year reflect not the pitfalls of digital excess, but a revival of humanistic values and deep thinking.