{"id":1109522,"date":"2025-12-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1109522"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:00:00","slug":"was-2025-the-year-of-peak-ragebait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1109522","title":{"rendered":"Was 2025 the year of peak ragebait?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In November 2025, the social media platform X<\/a> rolled out a highly controversial update. Overnight, many accounts had their country or region publicly displayed in their bio, in what head of product Nikita Bier <\/span>called<\/span><\/a> an \u201cimportant first step to securing the integrity of the global town square\u201d. This included a few surprises. For example, a screenshot quickly circulated showing that the account for the US Department of Homeland Security was actually based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Bier himself denied this, calling it \u201cfake news\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was another, undeniable trend:\u00a0many accounts known for stirring up trouble about politics in Europe and America were revealed to be based thousands of miles from the places they claimed to represent. An account called TRUMP ARMY was based in India. A conspiracy account titled MAGA Storm was posting from Eastern Europe. On the other side of the aisle, a \u201cproud Democrat\u201d and \u201cprofessional MAGA hunter\u201d was actually in Kenya. Their content was overwhelmingly divisive and, yes, rage-inducing.<\/span><\/p>\n

What dark forces were behind these posters? Is this the foreign interference that politicians have been warning us about? A psy-op, outsourced beyond national borders? As some commentators pointed out, there\u2019s a much more obvious reason staring us in the face: right now, ragebait is a surefire way to drive engagement on social media, where clicks and comments can be traded for cold, hard cash. And sure, riling up a few thousand posters won\u2019t make you <\/span>rich<\/span><\/em>, but in places where work is scarce and\/or wages are low, it might just earn you a living. Do you need to believe the dumb, hateful opinions you\u2019re spouting to receive a payout? Not at all. In fact, some of the accounts have changed their angle entirely over their lifespan, hiding behind a change of username.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s almost as if paying people based on engagement on a website where right wing accounts garner the largest following is going to stimulate thousands of people from \u201cpoor\u201d countries to just post stuff right wing Americans want to see as a way to make an income good enough for\u2026<\/p>\n

— Yugopnik (@yugopnik) November 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n