What could be a realistic solution to the level of rage bait we're experiencing on a daily basis?
Posted by CuriousHuman111@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 118 comments
Constant and relentless rage bait injected into the minds of brits on a daily basis. From Facebook to the Daily Mail it seems never ending, every story is twisted into a angry diatribe, intended to get the reader furious. Potentially this could be the main cause of our countrys current malaise, I suspect other countries have the same issue as well, most definitely the USA, but our European neighbors are almost certainly affected. What can we do about it? Could some form of legislation solve the issue? Anyone know of anything in the pipeline? "Just switch it off" is not very realistic, the issue finds it way into every aspect of the media so it's difficult to hide from.
Zubi_Q@reddit
Facebook is the absolute worst for this, due to the shitty algorithm. I miss the old fb, where it only showed pages I followed and my friends posting
I just get shown constant politics and people being disgusting in the comments section
blozzerg@reddit
The algorithm is 100% to blame; it’s been engineered to drive engagement, because engagement keeps you on the website, and the website makes money through paid ads, and the more eyes on screen the more money they make.
The Facebook and Instagram algorithms are now AI powered, it can build a huge database of your behaviour and react faster than ever before.
The Meta algorithm has always done this, if you pause to look at a photo, it will make a note of the content of that photo (still photo of a black and white dog, happy pose) and how you reacted to it (paused for a second, paused for 10 seconds, zoomed in, clicked it to read the comments etc), it will then do this over and over again until it can start to see patterns - a photo of a cute dog gets you to pause and drop a heart emoji into the comments - and then it will react - lets send this person more cute dog photos because they’ll engage with it via the comments.
AI is now doing this constantly, it’s non stop building a picture of your behaviour and can recognise the patterns faster than ever before, meaning content you engage with - even if it’s rage bait and the engagement is anger - are going to be shoved down your throat faster than ever.
I genuinely don’t know what we can do about this. There are tools available to remove content that you don’t want to see, on Instagram you can even see your algorithm and change it (click a reel, in the top right corner of the video is some hearts, click those and it tells you what it’s decided is in your algorithm and you can toggle it). But for a lot of people they end up in a rabbit hole of rage and they don’t seem to want to get out?
Zubi_Q@reddit
That's actually insane and very scary. Explains so much actually!
blozzerg@reddit
They’ve been doing it for years, everything you upload is analysed and a sort of map of it created, remember before video became dominant and photos were more popular, when it could recognise faces and automatically tag the correct person?
Sometimes it doesn’t know why you’ve reacted in the way you did, for example if reading migrant boat stories pisses you off and you read the article and then move on, it doesn’t know whether you’re angry or sad or just curious unless you leave a relevant comment or emoji, but the problem is even if you reacted with anger, it’s still engagement, so it will just show you more stuff that will get an angry response from you.
Ok_Cow_3431@reddit
I found the best hack to dealing with this shit on Facebook was to stop using Facebook.
Zubi_Q@reddit
Thing is, I need it for fb marketplace.
Simbooptendo@reddit
And my reports of literal hate speech comments being ignored
Zubi_Q@reddit
Same here. Pisses me off so much
thelaughingman_1991@reddit
Homepage ended up being all AI slop and shit I didn't follow. Felt like a fever dream melting braincells away. Deactivated my account months ago and never looked back.
Zubi_Q@reddit
I ONLY keep it for the marketplace. So easy selling stuff on there, compared to ebay and gumtree
thelaughingman_1991@reddit
I don't blame you! I've heard good things. My personal/current preference is Vinted, I'm fairly deep in selling on it now with 125\~ reviews lol.
I did keep Facebook for the Events tab/feature for local gigs, markets, art exhibitions but, I think Instagram does the trick now, and I tend to browse venue listings etc instead
Zubi_Q@reddit
Oh yes, Vinted is great
CuriousHuman111@reddit (OP)
It's rage all the way down.
danddersson@reddit
It's not 'only' politics. Because algorithms, I get lots of posts on stuff like archeology, battleships, arts, etc. All AI generated, I assume, and always with a major 'error'. Dates, appearance, attribution - anything that can be used to trigger anybody who knows something about the subject to POST! They are not being posted for the likes, or to educate, but to get people upset enough to POST! Even to the extent of deliberately generating 'false facts'.
Zubi_Q@reddit
Can definitely see that
Champagne_Bunnny@reddit
I sit there when my mum is scrolling and she's like "is this true" and I'm like "no", "nope", "definitely not", "possibly but unlikely"
Zubi_Q@reddit
It's so so bad 😔
ding_0_dong@reddit
Yay more legislation. How about not being so sanctimonious?
TacoBellyUpset@reddit
Schools are going to have to start dedicating significant amounts of time teaching kids about critical thinking and the internet, AI, rage bait, real Vs fake.
ExoticMangoz@reddit
Critical thinking is the most important skill of all, out of everything. It’s important no matter what you’re doing in life. It lets you look out for yourself and others, it makes you aware of how to better yourself if you want to, how to identify what is wrong with society, with others, and with yourself. It’s so, so important. It makes you much more likely to be a good person and it helps you be aware of what is going on and therefore what it is possible for you to try and do in your life.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
As an ex teacher I get this comment but it also pisses me off. This is what parents should be doing. Why is everything placed on teachers? I already taught this stuff in PHSE but that's one lesson a week, and stuff like this are talked about in assemblies.
Where is this miracle mysterious time people like you coming from in schools?
I'm sorry but I'm sick of seeing comments like that and people just lapping it up when they have no idea what teaching actually entails and how education works. The only solution is school being 7am-6pm.
handtoglandwombat@reddit
I 1000000000% agree with you.
But you ask what happened to parents? The dual income trap happened to parents. Both parents have to work. Both parents are too exhausted to give their kids any attention. It’s not an excuse, it’s just an observation about the world we’ve built for ourselves.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
I get that side of it as well and I agree. But why should teachers be parents to your children at the same time? They try their best, and believe me, I tried my best a lot more than some parents did.
When your kid is starting primary school unable to use a toilet you're taking the piss.
My gripe is constant "Schools should teach about debt. Mortgages. Credit cards. Crossing roads. Making toast. What cyber bullying is. How to spot AI. How to know when someone online is being a predator"....
Jesus Christ. Do you think teachers are perfect and there are 40 hours in a day?
lewisw1992@reddit
Well said, especially that last paragraph!!
handtoglandwombat@reddit
Again, I completely agree. It takes a village to raise a kid, and unfortunately it seems like there's no village left. And if there is a village, you're the sheriff. The boomer grandparents are all travelling with their triple lock pensions, or they downsized and moved to Spain. And there are zero safe third spaces for young people. Zero. And it's not like the double working family can even realistically afford childcare. This shit is fucked, honestly.
I think it would reasonable to ask high schools to provide lessons in finance. And maybe it's time media studies stopped being an elective. The thing is whilst most parents should understand finance, they don't. And it is completely unrealistic to expect parents to know more about the digital world than their kids do, especially AI, and especially at this rapid change of pace. We're talking night school levels of education, and that's not exactly gonna enable them to spend more time teaching the kids is it?
I don't pretend to know what the answer is, but on the scale between "people who can't afford it shouldn't have kids" and "let's tax wealth not work and start rebuilding our public services" I definitely lean more towards the latter.
InnocentRedhead90@reddit
This. I feel this every single day. I do believe i parent well but some aspects are missing due to 2 parents working 40-48 hours a week.
I will say critical thinking is a skill i am passing to my kids though, however, household skills and teaching those - im sadly lacking.
neilm1000@reddit
Part of the issue lies with teachers, or at least the more vocal elements in the teaching unions. For donkey's year, they went on and on about 'letting teachers teach', how teachers were- collectively- experts in teaching and informing and so on, how teachers were best placed to educate a. It is no surprise that that has blown back on teachers. I considered teaching when I was an undergrad and got put off by Doug McAvoy and Nigel de Gruchy constantly going on about what a bad time teachers had. and how the government should leave them alone. If people think you're an expert in something, they'll want you to do it.
I understand why this is rough on actual teachers.
DostKen@reddit
How can parents teach knowledge which most of them have never learned themselves?
Teaching this crucial life skill should be a high priority, up there with reading writing 'rithmatic.
ReddereDonum@reddit
Parents have lost a lot of time as well though. Both work full time. They also have so much digital admin that wasn't present when my mum was raising me.
My mum worked part time with her money topped up by benefits. When I look back on my childhood my mum was always present. She taught me all these things, as well as additional things. How to look after afro hair, how to sew, how to cook, how to deal with bullies, how to swim and other life skills etc.
Anti-benefits rhetoric has gained huge momentum. That's not really an acceptable life to people anymore. I feel parents should be supported to work part time in their industries. Some children can just get on with it but many need more time and dedication.
I'm not joking, if my mum was full time I'd probably be one of those kids sent country to sell drugs.
3lbFlax@reddit
I absolutely take your point re. teachers’ existing workloads and the need for a unified effort, and of course good teachers are already doing all this as part of their general approach and under great pressure from various sources - the point of English lit isn’t simply to fill your head with Macbeth quotes, for example. But I do think school is absolutely where it has to happen, because part of it is countering the bad habits kids pick up everywhere else. Re. your final comment, I think not being your pupil’s dad is very much the point. This was certainly true in the 70s and 80s and I suspect has been true since the start of education. We’ve got kids starting school now unfamiliar with books or not toilet trained - those are parent issues (as is crossing the road). Someone’s dad teaching them critical thinking is like them teaching geography or chemistry - likely not very effective outside of very specific circumstances. Of course parents need to support the effort - but chances are they need teaching too.
I don’t think Communication Studies is a very widely taught subject any more - my daughter never seemed to be offered it - but our teacher there did a fantastic job of demonstrating the bias and hidden agendas in UK news sources, not as a specific topic but as part of the broader curriculum. We all came out better for it and those lessons stay with me decades later. Of course it has to come from the right person, at the right time, and in the right way, and getting all those aligned isn’t easy. Teachers are our best hope, and we should be looking at how they can be enabled and supported to do what’s needed - not just by cramming a few extra lessons in, but by thinking about what we want education to mean and to be (and then delivering what that will cost).
e-pancake@reddit
you’re right about it being the parents’ job but at the same time this stuff is just literacy, it could be a part of the english curriculum. it’s good to ensure kids have blanket understanding of these things rather than hoping that every single child will have a parent capable or willing or present
OnTurtlesAndThings@reddit
It _is_ part of the English curriculum
culturerush@reddit
I feel the same way when they say "they don't teach you banking or how to apply for a mortgage in school, instead it's stupid biology and maths"
Education is building blocks to be able to go out and do things. Not a how to guide on functioning in the modern world.
snakeoildriller@reddit
I'll be blunt. For a lot a people, their parental responsibility ends after conception: after that it's always "someone else's problem".
No_Ring_3348@reddit
Unironically: not a bad idea at all.
TacoBellyUpset@reddit
Quite
_a_m_s_m@reddit
What the fuck happened to the transport engineers making sure that streets are safe for children?
Skanedog@reddit
Exactly
OnTurtlesAndThings@reddit
I feel like we were taught this to an extent for GCSE. For context I am 40yr so I'm talking late 90's, early 00's - it wasn't about the internet but modern history was largely an exercise in teaching critical thinking, we were taught about propaganda and the impacts on things like the rise of Nazism, how to identify propaganda in contemporary sources and all that, obviously with that we had the benefit of hindsight which is part of the point, we know how it panned out - so to see how propaganda and the media at the time was used to spread the message was a really valuable way of teaching critical thinking with training wheels.
English language too - it was a normal exercise to look at an issue via reporting from different angles and discuss how language was being used differently to imply different meanings around the same issue, and learn how to identify the bias, where each source was cherry picking the truth and skirting around the bits that didn't suit it's aims and read between the lines.
We weren't taught explicitly in the context of modern technology that didn't exist then but we absolutely were taught the transferable skills to identify it today regardless of medium, and I honest believe most people my age who believe they weren't were just the people who didn't engage with school (based on most people I personally know who complain we weren't taught lots of things in school definitely were, because they were in my class, they just missed the point).
This wasn't just taught 20-25 years ago, my niece is 18 and has these skills in spades.
Realistic-River-1941@reddit
It's not the kids who are the problem.
WonderfulMaybe3473@reddit
I was encouraged recently when I saw that critical thinking skills and identifying fake news, now being included in my daughters timetable along with her citizenship classes.
Quelly0@reddit
What about older generations?
katie-kaboom@reddit
A critical media literacy campaign directed at older people would be really useful too. There's often an assumption that older people are better at spotting misinformation and it's really not true. They grew up in an era where news was assumed to be accurate unless it came from a clearly delineated tabloid, and have not shed that assumption.
_a_m_s_m@reddit
Send some chaps from the DfE down to the local pub?
Champagne_Bunnny@reddit
And the local W.I. Actually probably more effective would be a Facebook campaign
Tomatoflee@reddit
Yep. The evidence says that the over 60s are most affected by propaganda. If you know anyone in that age group who had fallen into the GB News trap or spends too much time on Facebook, it’s not hard to believe.
_a_m_s_m@reddit
Shouldn’t be too difficult, Finland already does this.
nogeologyhere@reddit
Yes, and we're on such a back foot with this
OldLondon@reddit
Don’t be online so much and avoid websites and news that piss you off. I haven’t read the DM in years and I avoid Nick Ferrari in the mornings, my life is infinitely better.
MaxMouseOCX@reddit
The engagement mill will continue to turn in its relentless effort to make humans engage, relatively recently it was discovered that making people angry was a better tool than making things sexy, interesting or entertaining.
pleasant_atheism@reddit
That’s the core of it really. Anger gets promoted because it works.
Rob-McPhillips@reddit
I think this is an issue we have to confront as a society in the next few years/decades.
There's a tension between the drive of capitalism which puts money above people. And the drive for individual wellbeing.
Business - publicly owned anyway - exist to make money. They don't care about employees or customers beyond retaining them.
So they will make their products more addictive and maximise views. That has to poke at people's fears and insecurities..
So the media and social media prey on our vulnerabilities.
The social impact is damaging, but we pay the cost of that, not them.
Iquestionable.In the meantime it is
PutAutomatic2581@reddit
'Engagement' needs to be dropped as a metric.
SmokyBarnable01@reddit
So I ran into Kevin in Sainsbury's. Kevin's ransacking the shelves, loading up his basket with tubes of tomato puree. He's got about 40 in there.
'What are you cooking up man? That's a lot of puree!'
'Oh just stocking up. The way the world is now. You never know. Puree lasts pretty much forever.'
I look in his basket and right at the bottom, buried under all the little red tubes, there's a copy of the Daily Mail.
NoodleDoodlesocks@reddit
It's nothing new, only the formats have changed.
Stop doom scrolling, avoid news sources known for sensationalism and use facebook for friends and family.
Though I do think any company presenting as news should have to stick strictly to reporting the facts without using their words to guide their viewers/readers to an intended conclusion.
hhfugrr3@reddit
The obvious solution is to stop using FB and stop reading the Daily Heil. Sadly, there's not much that can be done to stop others using/reading that shite.
cgknight1@reddit
Nothing really because you are talking about viewpoints rather than factually misleading sentences - so unless you want a government censor approving stuff.
LetTheBloodFlow@reddit
I’m not so sure about that. The recent spate of “Cadbury’s took Easter off the eggs” stories and “The NHS orders doctors and nurses to stop saying ‘Raining cats and dogs’ because it offends foreigners” are factually incorrect. Any way you slice it, these things never happened. The eggs say Easter. One NHS trust advised staff to avoid idioms because they might confuse non-native speaking patients or colleagues.
I have an elderly relative who shares this crap all the time. Any attempt to push back just causes them to dig in further.
cgknight1@reddit
OP never mentions about thinking being factually incorrect.
If I post:
* “The NHS orders doctors and nurses to stop saying ‘Raining cats and dogs’ because it offends foreigners” - Factually incorrect
* Foreigners should be deported and the UK should look after citizens - Ragebait but nothing that can be prevented in an actuall free society.
LetTheBloodFlow@reddit
But the person I’m responding to—you—literally did. You literally said nothing could be done because it was viewpoints rather than factually misleading sentences.
I know this is Reddit where saying hello can spark a six day argument and people would rather cut off their ears with a rusty hacksaw than admit they were wrong, but come on. I provided two examples of popular rage bait from the last few weeks that were factually misleading sentences and not, in any way, shape, or form “viewpoints”.
cgknight1@reddit
But my answer is a response to his post - if he was talking about factually incorrect statements, I would have provided a materially different answer.
Also you don't need "literally" in either sentence.
LetTheBloodFlow@reddit
I wasn’t responding to OP. I was responding to you and the claims you made. Literally.
myprivred@reddit
People have a right to be upset over things that they find upsetting. If the facts are untrue, then that is a different matter. But lots of people don’t like some of the changes that I’ve been thrust up upon this country, and that is their right.
welshdude1983@reddit
Uk government going after porn when all this misinformation , brain rot, and political engineering by foreign states going on . Most the adds on youtube are spyware bloat ware crap. Reach plc which has regional newspapers online content , the sites unusable without an addblocker .and now you cant opt out of tracking cookies with out paying. Its a joke. And politicians are going after stuff companies and groups are lobbying them about instead of whats for the best
bukkakekeke@reddit
Ignore it
CuriousHuman111@reddit (OP)
Difficult to do these days. It's relentless and everywhere. There are armies of people trying every trick with algorithms to get engagement. I don't think simply ignoring it will help any more.
orange_lighthouse@reddit
Too many people are being sucked in by it though. Its propaganda, plain and simple. I for one am really upset at what members of my family believe because they've been brainwashed by it.
Quelly0@reddit
Same
nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit
Go outside. People are fine.
Electronic-Fennel828@reddit
I don’t think there’s a silver bullet for this. It’s been going on for too long and is too entrenched really. But I have some ideas.
For schools: - media literacy and critical thinking focus baked into the curriculum. Not just for English and humanities but STEM subjects as well. Science has a big role to play here. It’s about being critical and asking why! I didn’t learn about paradigm shifts until university. Teach that way earlier! - encouraging respectful communication and disagreement. Not everyone will agree and that’s fine, but both parties should be respectful. (This part is already happening in some schools) - emphasis on not just reading level, but reading comprehension level. The amount of students I see that can read exceptionally well, but understand very little of the text is astounding.
For the government: - support and resources for people tackling screen addiction. Maybe courses in media literacy and digital etiquette run through job centres or local libraries? Group therapies to help people build offline communities and connections. Anger management courses? - Banning “endless loop” content, such as shorts. (Not banning short form content itself, just the “endless” way it operates as it’s designed to be addictive), - kneecapping algorithms so that it’s harder to fall into destructive pipelines. Allow people to curate their own online experience rather than having it force fed to them. - Strengthen and enforce laws for spreading hate and misinformation online. - incentivise people to get offline. Tax credits or grants for people who volunteer, or are active in their communities? It doesn’t even have to be financial maybe a letter from the king or whatever. Like adult Duke of Edinburgh awards?
As a society - I don’t want to be the “just touch grass” guy because this whole issue is more nuanced than that, but getting offline will definitely help. Building offline communities, talking to your neighbours, anything that helps you see other people as actual human beings. Online it’s so easy to see yourself as the only real person and everyone else as just an NPC. So we say stuff online we’d never say to someone in real life, but it serves to normalise aggressive behaviour and poor communication.
Ok_Minute5016@reddit
I deleted my Facebook account about 10 years ago. Best thing I ever did. I only watch Netflix, just occasionally check online news. Today I baked some banana bread, and I'm about to take my dog for a nice afternoon walk in the sunshine, then go back to my cross stitching.
Historical_Project86@reddit
I think we also have to look into why we are collectively thick enough to take the bait. We are waiting for just such a "news" item, to confirm that our insecurities are justified. It's better to find ways to lose these insecurities, otherwise rage bait will go on in some form or another.
bluesam3@reddit
Obscure-Oracle@reddit
I think there needs to be more regulations on our media, any news site should be UK owned and funded, headlines should not be misleading and properly represent the article, misrepresentation of data should be punished with fines. Companies who run news channels under entertainment to avoid current legislation should be forced to air a disclaimer at the beginning of every presenter's show to let the public know that they are not a news channel and any information stated should be regarded as fiction.
Quelly0@reddit
Apparently the reason OFCOM do so little about GBNews constantly breaking the rules, is that they have to receive complaints in order to act. They can't go proactively looking for rules breaking themselves. And they get very very few complaints about the channel, presumably because only people who agree with the channel's message bother to watch it.
arabidopsis@reddit
I lodged a complaint and they ignored it.
Melchior_Chopstick@reddit
Don’t look at the internet.
bennythefish@reddit
On the risk on sounding blithe but sad to say not much . Realise it , ignore and try to block and accounts that you feel are the first worst offenders
YesTesco@reddit
Volunteer in your community as an antidote to social media. Government can make changes but you’ll ostracise those who disagree with the government and right now that will do no good.
Individuals coming together in a volunteering group. Small, local changes help improve the local area in some way. It can have a pull factor once people see what effects it has.
Social media and continual news coverage only bring you misery and isolation. Being connected to the development of your local community builds quality into yourself and those around you, even better if you join a community that is trying to improve local services and public spaces. What you get out of it is building local, meaningful connections to people who may not have the same opinions as you but you share a common goal and that should bring respect for opposing views. After all, shouting about the other side online means it’s not that hard to view them as the idea rather than as the human.
ReddereDonum@reddit
Rage bait on Reddit has also gone up tremendously. And has gotten way worse now that you can hide your comment and post history.
The individualised nature of posts makes it more insidious to me. People are already attuned to taking Facebook and Daily Mail with a pinch of salt. It's the "relatable" stories of Reddit that worry me more.
I'm a woman but can think of a recent example from the AskMenAdvice sub that played on real genuine worries that some men have. Through pure memory someone demonstrated that the OP was like 23 in one post and 33 in another. Married in one post, just had a girlfriend few days before. Luckily someone remembered the user name as the history was hidden.
What the end game of that was I have no idea at all. I can only assume it is sew discord in society. Create distrust from within.
nandos1234@reddit
There’s always a trend with clearly fake Reddit stories and advice subs and who they aim negativity at, a few years ago it was trans people then it was autistic people and I’m sure they’ve moved on to someone else now.
nandos1234@reddit
Scroll past it and don’t engage. Click not interested and block if you see things like this to curate your algorithm. If you interact with rage bait that’s what you continue to get fed to you.
-Rhymenocerous-@reddit
I unfollowed all news platforms around abouut 2018-2019 ish.
I got sick of having unsourced "facts" rammed down my neck and at that point I was following a fair amount. Started to notice whatever side of politics the owners of that news media were on were biased towards that view.
Now if I want to know about something ill just research it myself. But staying away from MSMN has definitely been blissful in my deliberate ignorance of it.
The younger generations have some serious hurdles to overcome in that aspect with the rise of AI lately and how accurate its become in terms of image/video generation from just simple prompts.
I think it will need some kind of curriculum based approach in the future to protect the younger generations from having their minds warped with utter bullshit / brain rot ( A lot of countries are already seeing literacy rates dropping due to excessive device / social media use in under 16s)
Icy_Reply_7830@reddit
I keep getting breaking news notifications from Reddit despite not subscribing to any of the news platforms, it’s really annoying
Twistpunch@reddit
Switch off from social media. Take a break from the internet. aka Touch grass. They can’t rage bait you if you don’t see it.
Gotta love “touch grass” is triggering rule 1 reminder.
Lazy-Objective-1630@reddit
You can't stop humans humanning. Rage bait is big because it works. It sells clicks and agendas. Education would be the answer but even then people will only believe what they want to believe.
It's just a thing now. All you can do is try to filter it out and leave everyone else to it.
Champagne_Bunnny@reddit
You're right - before social media it was the sun and the mail and magazines that people would get their rage from. People love to say "omg, I would never do that!/it could never happen to me", elevating themselves socially in their own minds in our classist society
AndyTheSane@reddit
Doesn't help if this rage bait informs peoples voting decisions. You can't filter that out.
Caacrinolass@reddit
Its the engagement mill, but at some point its going to have diminishing returns. What is the function of engaging with social media if its all bots and content for controversy and nothing else? This model is destructive - to discourse first, but to itself later.
The best we can do is encourage and teach critical thinking.
yearsofpractice@reddit
Do the following: - When engaging with anything including and opinion, always think “Who benefits?” - Teach kids the above
Keep going until critical thinking is more prevalent than reactionary thinking.
Straightforward eh…?
Skanedog@reddit
Shutting down all social media forever would go along way towards it.
We really are not developed enough as a species to cope with anyone on Earth being able to say anything hint to anyone else on Earth and any time they want.
Excellent-Abies-259@reddit
I suspect rage bait is a reaction to a generation that watches their loved ones who were kind and generous succumb to various illnesses and subconsciously linked the two.
The best solution.
Never eat takeaways or eat in restaurants.
That's how the poisons are applied on an astral level.
Eat plant based. Or fruitarian.
And don't take illegal substances or poor pharmaceuticals unless life or death. x
Quelly0@reddit
Stewart Lee had something interesting to say about this on Pod Save the UK last week. He's noticed that there are some professional agitators who phone into talk radio programmes, pretending to be from organisations that don't exist, to give outraged opinions. He spotted one, phoned the station to tell them, the guy got challenged on air and his whole argument collapsed.
Majestic_Matt_459@reddit
If, like me, you like using the Apps STOP RESPONDING TO RAGEBAIT - Dont clikc the dislike button, dont comment, dont reply to anyone saying nastyu stuff
After a while the algorithms will stop sending you that stuff
critterwol@reddit
Put your phone down. Delete the apps. Get a "dumb phone" app. Go see your friends/family and talk irl.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Get offline. Put your phone down. Grab a book. Take it to a pub or cafe. You're doing this to yourself.
Vampirero@reddit
I agree. Use the internet for your own purposes. It can be great in some ways, terrible in others. Be an adult and use the internet as the tool it is.
GetNooted@reddit
How dare you tell me to put down my rage bait
vert-glamis@reddit
maybe dont read facebook or the daily mail👍 i never see any of this. curate your online experience to how you want it to be
Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit
It's not just the right where this is happening, though. Of course, when it's stuff you agree with, it's harder to recognise.
GogoGadgetTypo@reddit
Get off Reddit (or social media in general) for a week or two (or more!), it works wonders for the psyche.
Wonderful_Affect_664@reddit
I usually reply with something like “today’s reason to be angry” just to call them out on it.
welsh_dragon_roar@reddit
Ignore it - sorted 👍
ilovecolawaytoomuch2@reddit
Leaving the mainstream socials (FB, IG, X) has been my saving grace. Bots are focused there and the algorithms love rage bait
supergodmasterforce@reddit
Purely my opinion, but I think we have both a generation of people who believe that if it's on the internet, then it must be true. Equally, we also have a generation of people who lack critical thinking and the ability to discern facts from fiction and when presented with facts, they will not (or cannot) change their minds.
Regarding the former, you can see it even on Reddit that there's examples given of posts made on various social media outlets with outlandish claims that people believe. The craziest I've seen are the claims about immigrants eating swans and the utterly ridiculous claims that schools perform sex change operations without parent's permission.
Regarding the latter, I can't pinpoint one thing that could be to blame for this inability to think for themselves. This isn't even a generational thing either, it seems to be people my age (Gen X) and both older and younger. It could be another "if it's on the internet it must be true" problem it could be any number of things.
I'm not saying people like this do not exist prior to the birth of the internet. It's just now because of the internet there is a much wider audience and it is much easier to spread false news and hateful content all with a certain agenda in place.
Goblinstomper@reddit
All social media should be forced to label AI generated content and have the ability to just not see it.
nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit
Go outside. People are fine.
maksigm@reddit
They're also mostly addicted to their phones.
The solution has to be one that combats cheap dopamine addiction. It won't be easy.
AllThatIHaveDone@reddit
Banning infinite scroll would be a good start.
maksigm@reddit
Yes, it should be regulated out of existence.
Bring back the CHOICE to chronologically scroll through ONLY things you have chosen to follow or subscribe to.
I used to ignore the explore page on Instagram, and only look at the feed of stuff my friends had uploaded. We should have the choice to use these platforms this way if we want to.
FunkyYoghurt@reddit
Couldn't put it better myself. My local opens at 2pm and I can't wait. Real people. Real conversation. I'll have a belting afternoon.
PangolinMandolin@reddit
Different social media sites have different algorithms, but they all reward engagement in the form of reactions, comments and shares.
Unfortunately, rage bait content gets more of these than any other form of content. The "bait" part of the phrase is because the poster wants to draw people in so that they comment and react, just like a lure on a fishing line.
Plus, once any user responds to rage bait content, the algorithm will show each user more and more of that type of content.
So, the only way to tackle this are (personally) to ignore rage bait content and to only engage with content you like.
From a wider platform level perspective, you'd either need the majority of users to follow the advice above (how successful are public awareness campaigns really?), or to get the social media companies to alter their algorithms to prioritise something else.
sparkline1234567@reddit
There are some very determined adversaries who have a very strong interest in this continuing. Consider it a war to control the mind of the man on the Clapham omnibus.
Stefgrep66@reddit
If your informing your opinion on social media, there's no hope for you, no amount of censorship prevents stupid
Snoo93102@reddit
More equal society. Fairer land distribution. All the things they will not let you have.
datguysadz@reddit
Touch grass would be my main advice.
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