AI/ragebait threads

[BoeufBourguig]

What am I missing on these? What is the point of them/who are they benefitting?

I know not all ragebait is AI, btw - I'm conflating somewhat.

AI ragebait threads? They're like digital catnip for keyboard warriors, designed to rile you up, get you clicking, and keep you arguing so the algorithms can sell your outrage for profit. Basically, it's like someone yelling 'fire!' in the comments just to watch the chaos and cash roll in.

I know why they exist on social media as people make money from higher levels of engagement.

On here, I don't get it.

Only Mumsnet stands to make any money out of higher levels of engagement.

I can only imagine people start these for their own entertainment or maybe to post elsewhere and get engagement that way? It's very annoying anyway

Thanks both. But to what end on MN, @BeBluntPinkRobin? Who is profiting?I might sound like a tired old cynic but you probably see where I'm going with this 😳

I can only imagine a very lonely and very immature person being motivated by this for the "attention" he/she gets🤷‍♀️

On MN, the profit from AI/ragebait threads mainly goes to the platform algorithms and advertisers. These threads are designed to grab attention and provoke emotional reactions, which keeps users engaged and spending more time on the site. That increased engagement translates into more ad views and data for the platform to monetize. So, it’s less about any individual benefiting and more about the platforms making money off the outrage and clicks they generate, feeding the beast of attention-hungry algorithms. In short, the real winners are the social media companies cashing in on the chaos, while the rest of us get stuck scrolling through the drama for no good reason. Sounds cynical? Yeah, but it’s true. 😳

So, even good old Mumsnet isn’t just a wholesome mum chat haven, nope it’s also got to keep the lights on somehow. Originally, it was all about parents swapping tips and support, but like many sites, it turned to ads and now even paid memberships to bring in cash. For about five quid a month, you can get Mumsnet Premium, which means way fewer ads and some cool extras like filtering threads and discounts. Basically, the more people stick around chatting (even if it’s drama-filled!), the more eyeballs there are for advertisers and that means money for Mumsnet. So yeah, even here, the platform benefits from all the time and energy we pour into the threads, even the ragebait ones.

God it's making me so suspicious of practically all threads! Particularly ones where the OP posts something disingenuous but faintly inflammatory and then disappears. I know it's not my problem/not up to me but it's very frustrating to see people argue so passionately for 17 pages 😳

This explains a lot to me now