In 2025, visibility often feels like a double-edged sword. If you want to be ‘successful’ it comes with a cost.
Scroll your feed on all the platforms and you will see it in posts and comments.
It’s called rage-baiting, when someone deliberately provokes outrage in order to drive clicks, comments, and visibility.
Posts designed to create division and at the extreme, even hate. Algorithms reward it because outrage spreads faster than calm content.
And in some online circles, it’s framed as the only way to stay relevant.
For entrepreneurs and small business owners, that creates a real pressure: if you’re not being controversial, are you being ignored?
Must you be super spicy in order to be noticed, even if it goes against your values?
Here’s where leadership comes in.
Inside the organisations I work with across many industries, leaders don’t need to rage-bait their teams to gain influence.
They don’t need to provoke hate to be respected. What works in leadership is clarity, conviction, and consistency.
So why should it be any different online?
There is no doubt that polarity is powerful. Leaders who stand for something inevitably attract disagreement. And that’ s ok, we can’t all be liked, and we aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
But disagreement doesn’t have to be engineered through cruelty.
The question for today’s leaders, whether you’re running a business, a consultancy, or a team, is this:
Where do you draw the line between standing boldly for what you believe, and manufacturing outrage just to get attention?
I’m currently gathering perspectives on this issue.
If you’ve seen rage-bait in your feed, or felt the pressure to adopt it, I’d love to hear your experience in this super quick survey
Your voice will help me explore this issue and shape alternatives that keep our industry bold and ethical.
Thanks so much,
Helen
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