I want to note that I started writing this post on August 1st and today, August 6th—the day of publishing—a friend of mine sent me a post by Embedded, that dives into a very smart analysis of how rage bait is being leveraged in marketing and media. I intentionally didn’t read it in full until I finished my piece, but it’s clear I am not the only one who is picking up on the increasing rage bait in our society and culture.
Is it just me, or does every social media platform (and I put Substack in that category, too) seem to be pushing rage bait and negative content hard?
While I genuinely try not to scroll too much—I’m convinced that the more I consume, the fewer creative ideas I have—I do have to dedicate time each week to researching trends and popular topics for my social media clients (and you got me, I do some brainrot scrolling too, okay? Sue me!).
Whatever the reason I find myself on social media, I’m instantly smacked in the face with half-baked hot takes, fear-mongering, or just plain-old, classic-recipe rage bait.
My feed is like a fun house of unnerving content that does the exact opposite of what I look for: providing a bit of levity, sharing helpful information, or pulling at my heartstrings with an inspiring story. Instead, I feel annoyed, frustrated, and exhausted by the lack of authenticity at what is sucking the life out of spaces that used to—at least a little bit—prioritize social media for sharing and connections.
In particular, in the travel space, it is practically a guarantee that when I am on social media, I will get served up a post about a “hot take: I didn’t enjoy Rome.”
…Or “Venice is a tourist trap and not worth it.” It’s impossible to have missed them at this point. The intentionally contrarian takes, often from someone who spent a very limited amount of time in a historic and world-famous destination, hopping from viral TikTok spot to centuries-old monument that is—gasp!—full of other tourists, and walked away feeling qualified to issue a definitive verdict. Thus influencing countless others to either visit or cross off a destination from their bucket lists.
I swear to God, if I hear one more “Oh nooooo” audio overlaying a video of a crowd at the Colosseum, I’ll chuck my phone into the Tiber River.
These posts aren’t about offering insight or starting meaningful conversations; they’re strategically crafted to trigger outrage, bait users to wholeheartedly defend the opposite opinion in the comments, and ultimately, boost engagement.
And it works. Rage is clickable and shareable. Platforms reward it with visibility. Because engagement is engagement to algorithms—and that’s showbiz, baby!
Creators are intentionally framing their content in ways that lean into the algorithm’s appetite for conflict. I once saw a TikTok “guru” suggest purposely misspelling or mispronouncing words in your content just so people will correct you.
Because, just a reminder: the vast majority of people on social media aren’t actually creating anything. They’re more like the hypothetical dad on the sidelines of a little league game, yelling at Jimmy to stay light on his toes at second base—even though he hasn’t picked up a bat in 30 years.
As a result, our social media feeds are less about discovery, connection, and humor, and more about polarizing opinions on places, cultures, and people for the sake of attention. Also, this is a HARD and not-at-all-subtle attack on Threads, because what the actual fuck is up with that app?
And what worries me most is how this type of content shapes the way people travel. I have had countless people write in my comments that they were swayed from visiting Rome or Florence, or Italy in general, because of social media content they had seen.
It’s not just exhausting—it’s deeply sad. I remember my first job in tourism, when we took study abroad students to the Amalfi Coast. Whenever our boat pulled up to Positano, a good portion of them would say, “Yeah, looks like the pictures.” This was in the age of the OG Instagram post—no short-form video, just highly filtered, idealized photos. And honestly, they didn’t even care that they were experiencing it. What mattered was that it looked like the photos and that they could replicate that same image.
The mindset of valuing the captured image or video over the lived experience has only been amplified by social media’s evolution. In 2025, people aren’t just navigating unrealistic expectations (looking at you, photoshopped photo of an empty Trevi Fountain in the middle of the day), but also aggressive rage bait and lame-ass hot takes. As a result, people’s travel perceptions are shaped less by genuine encounters and honest experiences being shared online, and more by what an algorithm deemed the most clickable.
Sooo, what do we do?
The fortunate few who are lucky enough to travel often take that privilege and power for granted. Folks carelessly send off their opinions into the interwebs, not giving a second thought to how this content might influence people far and wide. It seems no one cares about the impact on others anymore. Their main concern is getting more engagement or serving whatever their motive is for posting online.
To be honest, I don’t have a grand solution. I’m just trying to be more conscious—about what I post, what I watch, and what I interact with. BELIEVE ME, I WANT TO COMMENT SOOOO MANY THINGS!!! Not liking Rome isn’t a personality trait, okay?!
Or maybe we all just need to touch some grass and go outside (ideally not while filming a Reel about how overrated it is).
Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Curious to hear if others have picked up on this on social media lately.
Further reading on rage bait
Here is the rage bait post my friend sent me, and I read it after I finished writing my piece. I loved how it breaks down rage bait through the lenses of media, marketing, government, and more. Worth a read if you want to dig deeper!
When ever I take the rage bait (which happens so often even though I know better), a quote from the memoir Wine Girl by Victoria James always grounds me. She writes "the sharks eventually stop swimming." They will stop swimming when we stop taking the bait. I do think this weird, vapid, desperate content bubble will pop soon, especially in Italy. People forget that Italy also exists the other nine months out of the year, so when their summer of spritz is over, we will continue to drink, eat and enjoy our lives in peace. I truly believe that. :)
There are people who are trying very hard to get likes and followers and are willing to say or post anything to that end. I'm sure if we were there we'd see that they actually enjoyed themselves immensely!