Rage Farming on TikTok and Why We Hate It
TikTok has many benefits for small businesses, especially when they know what works, how to use the platform, and stay current on the latest — such as, rage farming. You might be wondering what the heck is rage farming and will you need to do it to have a successful TikTok strategy for your brand.
The short answer is no. However, we wouldn’t want to drop a term and practice like rage farming and leave you with little knowledge of its origins and impact on TikTok marketing and user behavior. We especially wouldn’t leave you without our agency’s professional opinion on rage farming — psst, we hate it.
What Is Rage Farming or Rage Bait?
Rage farming, or something referred to as rage bait, is a term that first originated online in early 2022. It was originally used to describe an inflammatory tweet (Source: Wikipedia). The follow up to rage farming was “clickbait.” You more than likely have seen this term used plenty of times before and may have been drawn in to some content online that used this method of driving engagement. Clickbait is a term used to describe descriptive or sensational headlines to entice users to click on an article (Source: Wikipedia).
There are other terms that have a similar or adjacent meaning like rage farming across the marketing disciplines. For instance, web designers refer to “Dark UX” when referring to any deceptive buttons, language, or UI patterns in a website or app interface. The most commonly understood example of Dark UX is the “bait and switch,” and this is something many consumers are used to either from directly being impacted or knowing someone who has been.
With Dark UX, a user will select a button, signup, or service, only to be directed to an unexpected page or with a more expensive product in their cart (Source: UX Design Institute). You can look to online news for examples of this in action. We’ve seen this radically impact our news media and politics in recent years, but this is also having a major impacto on marketing as a whole.
We are beginning to see sensationalized tactics be successful in video content across social media. But how is it showing up on TikTok — and why?
Why TikTok?
The way that rage farming happens on TikTok is by showing up in video content that users and brands upload. VVITCH has noticed it on other platforms like Instagram, Reels, and YouTube Shorts; it doesn’t seem to have reached the same level of use as it as on TikTok in recent years.
This is likely due to TikTok’s heavy focus on the amount of engagement users and brands receive on a single video post — especially shortly after it is initially posted. The platform’s algorithm used that engagement to determine whether to boost that content on the For You Page (FYP) or not.
There are four types of rage farming posts that are commonly used on TikTok because they seemingly provide users with a “hack” for TikTok’s algorithm regarding engagement.
Learn more about the rules of posting videos on TikTok
Types of Rage Farming Posts
Intentional Typos & Errors in Content
The first type of rage farming post is where typos and errors are intentionally used in content.
Do you get irritated by typos and grammatical errors? What about correcting factual errors in content? Well, you might be the target audience of this specific type of rage farming content on TikTok. Any content that intentionally includes erroneous information or small typos in the content with the hope that users will notice them and engage by leaving a correction in the comments qualifies because those comments count as engagement.
Gross or Unsavory Content
The second type of rage farming post is gross or unsavory content.
Have you ever been scrolling through TikTok and seen a recipe for something you can't imagine anyone ever wanting to eat? Well, guess what? That is another form of rage farming. The same goes for unsanitary cooking videos! While the popular TikTok audio “You can’t eat at everybody’s house” is definitely true, some cooking videos will purposefully use unsanitary kitchen practices to drive up engagement on the post.
Inflammatory Statements
Third on the list we have inflammatory statements.
This can often seem like a “hot take” — which is normally helpful at expanding the conversation around a topic. However, very often these takes turn controversial on TikTok and inflammatory statements are part of an effort to stire up conversation and engagement around their content. Whether it’s about politics, a news story, or a harsh brand takedown, before you hastily share this type of content ask yourself what the person has to gain by posting this content. You may be unintentionally feeding into their rage farming efforts.
Callout Accounts
Lastly, we have callout accounts.
These accounts can be harder to spot. We often see a large number of what are sometimes referred to as “callout accounts,” especially within more socially minded communities, that are focused on calling out the bad behaviour of others — like shady business practices, unethical behavior, or shameful political beliefs. Yet, these accounts often feed on the outrage of a situation without actually helping any of the individuals who are harmed. If an account centers all of its account around this, then you need to consider again what they have to gain and whether this might just be rage farming.
With this knowledge, what can you do instead on TikTok to drive engagement for your business without leaning into these tactics?
What to Do on TikTok Instead
Here are four strategies your brand can apply to its TikTok strategy to avoid giving into the temptation of high engagement using rage farming:
Grow Brand Integrity and Transparency
You need to build your brand reputation and brand trust. By avoiding these types of deceptive marketing we discussed above, you’ll be able to strengthen your overal brand perception. And we get it, rage farming tactics might seem good for creating viral content, but they don’t often lead to long-time followers. You want longevity as a brand on social because you want your business to grow and scale. The best way to do that is by giving honest and useful content every time.
Focus on a Strong Content Strategy
You won’t need to resort to these types of posts if you’re delivering high quality content that your audience wants to engage with. The key to doing this successfully on a regular basies is to focus more on the quality of your brand’s content strategy itself, rather than a “bait and switch.” A content strategy helps you identify the types of content you should create to meet the needs of your audience and in service of your busines goals. It also provides a framework for making your content easier.
Provide Content and Resources that Your Audience Actually Wants
The third strategy for avoiding rage farming on TikTok, is to know your audience. The best way to determine what your audience wants is by using your brand’s social channels as a bit of an experiment. Try out different types of content, and pay attention to which types of content perform better with your audience. As trends start to appear, pivot your brand’s content to focus more heavily on the types of content that perform well for your business.
Want to dive deeper into audience needs? You could use audience profiles and personas in your content strategy. These will allow you to more granually consider the needs of each of the different audiences that your business serves.
Build a Strong Community
Most important out of all of these strategies is to build a strong community throught authentic engagement and helpful content. Your brand’s community needs to know how to use, apply, wear, and so on when it comes to the products they buy for their everyday lives. There is a reason YouTube, and now TikTok, tutorials are so engaging. When you put that level of knowledge share back into your brands’ hands you can ensure that your audience keeps coming back for more.
Are you ready to include TikTok in your small business’ marketing strategy?
Have you tried the tips above but still want hands-on support? VVITCH can be a trusted partner for your small business.
Learn more about the social media marketing services that we offer by contacting our team!
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Meet the Authors
Jen Siomacco - Founder and UX Designer
Jen has worked in technology, marketing, and publishing for ten years. After years as a CX/UX designer in the corporate world, Jen co-owned an independent wedding magazine prior to starting VVITCH Digital Agency. Now, after years in both the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, they are committed to helping small businesses grow into revolutionary brands.
Brittinee Phillips - Copywriter
Brittinee has worked in marketing for a little over ten years. She has a passion and talent for storytelling. Brittinee's philosophy is that storytelling is the most integral part of the consumer and product experience, which is why she makes it a focal point in her approach to product and brand messaging.
