How content creators profit from rage-baiting

Marketplace Tech

Have you ever found yourself angry or outraged at a piece of content on social media? A disgusting recipe or shocking opinion? It could be intentional. Social media influencer Winta Zesu freely admits that she provokes for profit — and made $150,000 last year by posting content meant to elicit “hate comments.” She’s part of a growing group of online creators making rage-bait content, where the goal is simple: record videos, produce memes and write posts that make other users viscerally angry, then bask in the thousands, or even millions, of shares and likes. The BBC’s Megan Lawton reports.