Reactbait
A form of baiting focused purely on triggering an emotional reaction in someone—anger, frustration, sadness, outrage—for the satisfaction of seeing them react. Reactbait doesn't necessarily seek to win arguments, change minds, or achieve practical outcomes; it seeks the visceral pleasure of watching someone lose control. The reactbaiter pokes, prods, and provokes until the target responds emotionally, then feeds on that response. It's the digital equivalent of poking a caged animal with a stick—the reaction is the point, the entertainment, the reward. Reactbait is especially common in anonymous online spaces where empathy is low and cruelty is fun.
Example: "He posted inflammatory comments not because he believed them but because he wanted to see people get angry. And they did—outraged replies, frustrated arguments, emotional venting. Reactbait had worked: he'd gotten the reactions he wanted, and he moved on, satisfied, to the next target. The anger he'd provoked wasn't his problem; it was his entertainment."
