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Outrage baiting or outrage farming has given rise to a new wave of content creators and social media influencers who not only incite outrage online, but also capitalize on their audience’s anger.
photo: Tik Tok
Trolls have been around almost as long as the internet; think of early YouTube clickbait headlines, edgy Facebook memes and nihilistic Twitter posts, all deliberately designed to provoke and outrage the masses. It’s an area of the web that most people are familiar with, yet the rise of TikTok has allowed a new form of trolling to flourish.
Outrage baiting or outrage farming has given rise to a new wave of content creators and social media influencers who not only incite outrage online, but also capitalize on their audience’s anger.
Essentially, outrage baiting is a manipulative tactic used by content creators to anger their audience. The idea is that if you’re angry, you’re more likely to comment, share, react, and ultimately increase online engagement for that video, which helps content creators drive more traffic to their channels and earn more revenue.
On TikTok, this often looks like scheduled interactions and story times, disgusting cooking videos, and mistakes that are frankly irritating.
Barista and TikToker Ryan Gawlik is a master at whipping up outrage—he’ll deliberately call espresso “expresso” and bite down on an entire KitKat bar instead of breaking it into four pieces, knowing his internet audience will find that offensive. Most of this content is harmless and only mildly irritating, but it’s proven lucrative for Gawlik. When he hit 1 million followers in late 2022, he began converting views into cash.
But he’s not the only one: Popular TikTok users can make money through a variety of revenue streams, including sponsorships, fundraisers, product sales and accepting tips. The more their accounts and videos grow, the more revenue opportunities there are. But in the realm of inciting outrage, users have taken some interesting paths.
TikToker Ryan Gawlik will deliberately refer to espresso as “expresso” and bite off an entire KitKat bar because he knows his online audience will be upset with such behavior.
photo: TikTok/Rye Williams
Cheesy cooking videos have become a trend on the platform over the past few years — 2021’s popular feta pasta, which used whole blocks of feta and watery roasted tomatoes, was just the beginning. Now, videos of dried noodles being tossed into a blender to create a mushy dough, or boiling beef, eggs and cheese in a Doritos bag to make instant nachos, are the norm.
Eli Betchik, better known as @elis_kitchen, calls himself the “most evil chef on TikTok” and is a big proponent of the trend. In 2023, Betchik told guardian Some of her content is designed to stir emotions in her audience – but she never pretends to be otherwise. “I never try to be genuine… If anyone asks, I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I do it for the attention’. I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’m doing it.”
Mixed bologna and blueberry toast, or the much-maligned potato chip sandwich (a sandwich made of peas, pineapple, cheese and nuts, spread on bread with mayonnaise and then fried) are among the outrageous videos that have triggered strong reactions from viewers: the comment section is filled with messages ranging from “I’m going to throw up”, “This is body horror”, “This makes me physically sick” to “I can’t express how depressing this is”.
While disgusting food falls under the category of “clearly inflammatory” content, some of the most successful outrage-inciting videos strike a more delicate balance between satire and sincerity.
Content creators like Nara Smith are accused of inciting anger because of the apparently unrealistic lifestyle they represent, but they will never admit to inciting anger, which is part of the reason why this strategy is so successful.
In her videos, Smith often wears designer clothes and cooks elaborate meals for her children; these meals take hours, sometimes days, to prepare, and it’s clear her children wouldn’t go that long without eating.
To some, the trolling was obvious: “She’s obviously trolling, y’all keep falling for it, we love you Nara!! x” one comment said. But for the most part, audience reactions ranged from confusion to disbelief to admiration – and the lack of clarification allowed Smith to continue her reign. As of August 2024, she is one of TikTok’s most searched users, and her videos are viewed tens of millions of times per day.
Nara Smith has been accused of inciting anger for the apparently unrealistic lifestyle she represents, but she will never admit it. This is part of the reason why this strategy is so successful.
photo: Instagram/Nara Smith
Outrage baiting has been criticized as a tactic that exacerbates an already angry online world and weaponizes people’s emotions as a means of generating revenue. But as Business Insider reports, it’s proven to be effective.
“…anthropologists say it’s a proven technique for growing followers in an attention-based economy, where generating positive or negative engagement is a lucrative digital currency…Social media platforms don’t care whether a message is uplifting or hurtful. As long as people engage with it, the platforms will spread it further.”
It’s true — the more you watch it, even if it’s shocking and horrifying — the more your algorithm will push that content into your feed.
Winta Zesu has mastered this strategy quickly. The 22-year-old New York-based influencer is best known for her skits in which she confronts scary waiters or rude influencers at newsstands — but her responses match their behavior, and she can sometimes come off as self-righteous. Her comments section is often divided. With 515,000 devoted followers, she is one of the fastest-growing outrage-bait influencers on TikTok. But her content didn’t start out that way.
In 2022, Zesu started posting these controversial videos because she realized that they could attract more traffic than fashion and beauty vlogs. After her first red carpet event, she posted a video of herself; two girls could be seen whispering in the background, and people in Zesu’s comment section thought the two girls were gossiping about her. She let it go, and the rest is history.
Less than two years later, Rolling Stone reported that Zesu was making between $10,000 and $15,000 on average across all platforms. “I realized that videos really go viral when there’s something controversial in them,” she told the magazine. “When people ask me what type of content I make, I usually say skits, or if I mean those restaurant videos, I say satire. I guess it’s also outrage bait. But I don’t know why I don’t say that. I really don’t like that term.”
Clearly, outrage incitement is on the rise, but many TikTok users are questioning their actions, indicating that they believe it is morally wrong.
Lauren, who has 1.3 million followers on her account @the_dadvocate, told Business Insider She is no stranger to the accusation; her videos have centred around “partner-shaming” men and her views on other trans issues have been controversial. But she said “for the accusation to be true, it would require the creator to be dishonest and not actually believe in the things they are talking about, whereas I do”.
Denise Bradley and Savannah Sparks, founders of RX0rcist, also said they have a complicated relationship with outrage baiting and said anger is a necessary weapon in the fight against medical misinformation and racial inequality online.
“I don’t believe in sugarcoating issues… so if people feel like I’m fanning the flames, you should ask yourself: ‘What does she want us to see?'” Bradley told Authoritative information.
Sparks added: “Covering science, misinformation and crime is not stirring up outrage… stirring up outrage is intentional manipulation” — and that’s not what any of them would do.
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