Gentlemen of Oxford, 'El Mundo' had already invented this

The Oxford dictionary chose rage baiting as word of the year 2025. The term refers to those clickbait articles that do not rely on exciting curiosity with a headline that lacks the fundamental piece of information, but rather seek to provoke anger (rayAnd that this indignation becomes the lever that triggers the click and the offended comment. The illustrious institution explains that the term was coined in 2002, but without any connection to digital life, and that back then it referred to getting angry when a car flashed its lights from behind to ask for the right of way. From there, the term adapted to the fantastic algorithmic world, and in 2022 the derivative became popular. rage farmingThat is, cultivating rage, to refer to these political operations that consciously and deliberately attempt to influence public opinion through deliberately offensive provocations. In times of saturation, rage constitutes an energy that pulls one out of apathy. It fills minds on Sundays.

It's a shame that the digital world is an English empire, because in reality the practice has been around for decades in Spain, courtesy of the media establishment. This very Friday, the front-page headline ofThe World It read: "Puente doesn't see himself as responsible: 'I'm doing very well.'" The newspaper doesn't highlight this phrase for its informational value. It wants the reader to grab the paper with clenched hands and crumple its pages while a wave of bitterness begins to form in their mouth. The same headline, of course, would be read differently. The Country either The Vanguardbut written in The World What he wants to convey is offense and mockery of the minister. Pure. rage baitingwhich the newspaper dominated long before the digital revolution. It's just that calling it... Give the monkey a hard time, it's from GomingFor some reason, it just didn't sound right in English.