Slang dictionary
rage farming
[ reyj fahr-ming ]
What is rage farming?
Rage farming is a slang term for the political tactic of intentionally provoking political opponents in order to create or increase exposure for one鈥檚 group or cause. The tactic is especially associated with conservative and far-right political groups.
The term rage farming is always used in a critical way. It is typically applied to the act of posting intentionally inflammatory content or otherwise trolling political opponents online with the goal of eliciting a large number of angry responses, thus leading to widespread exposure for the original poster. However, the term may be applied to practices other than online posts, such as making inflammatory comments in interviews or speeches that will be widely covered by the media.
Where does rage farming come from?
The original use of the verb phrase rage farm to refer to a political tactic is often credited to researcher John Scott-Railton, who used it (in the form rage farmed) in a January 2022 Twitter post in reference to inflammatory online posts like those that had been recently made by the Texas GOP Twitter account.
You are being rage farmed.
Your angry quote tweet = the goal.
Left: the tweet everyone is dunking on.
Right: Texas GOP gloating at the engagement they got.If you must dunk: screen-cap & don't use their handle.
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton)
The term was popularized by a January 2022 article in The Atlantic by Molly Jang-Fast titled 鈥淥wning the Libs Is the Only GOP Platform.鈥� The term is thought to have gained popularity in part due to giving a name to a practice recognized as increasingly common by political observers, especially in the context of social media.
In rage farming, the term farming is used in a figurative way that鈥檚 similar to how it鈥檚 used in terms for other practices, such as data farming.
Examples of rage farming
Who uses rage farming?
The term rage farming is used by critics of the political tactic, which is closely associated with conservative and far-right political groups.
Don't fall for this juvenile rage farming this time
— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti)
Mr O鈥橳oole is not a dumb man, which means he must know how bad this argument is. It鈥檚 just rage farming by 鈥� and probably for the benefit of 鈥� his social media team. The Conservative Party is increasingly indistinguishable from a facebook group.
— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts)
Conservatives are experts on rage farming. But what they plan to do with all that rage if they ever form government is less known. Don鈥檛 expect a bunch of angry voters to settle down post-election. They鈥檒l turn on their own leader in a heartbeat. It鈥檚 the bed they made.
— Dr. Matthew S. Johnston (@mattjohnstonca)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of rage farming like most terms we define on 亚洲网紅露点, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of rage farming that will help our users expand their word mastery.