26 February

Rage-baiting was word of the year in 2025. Invented to describe techniques to drive online engagement, it also describes how populist politics work. And because we shifted our lives onto social media, the two are now synonymous. It’s simple psychology, as old as Caesar. Mobilise people by making them constantly angry. Transform everything into a fake debate or argument, because that fires people up and makes them want to join one of the teams in the argument. Not only can that make people want to follow one side or team in a debate, it can make them interested in things they previously thought or felt nothing about at all. Like windmills, a current topical example. It turns everything into a team sport. Humans LOVE team sports, because they tap into their deepest behaviours - imitative rivalry. Imitate other members of the team, to create unity, and go into battle against other teams.