How do LinkedIn posts work that polarize and go viral very quickly? I methodically applied our comment analysis to Sarah's LinkedIn post, which went viral on the business network in January 2025 with over 2 million views.
Rage Baiting - What is it about?
Sarah Röthlisberger in her recent LinkedIn post begins with an ironic provocation about flying in a private jet, only to then point out a growing phenomenon on LinkedIn: rage baiting – the deliberate provocation of controversial discussions in order to generate maximum reach.
She gives examples of deliberately exaggerated posts that polarize and go viral. Her tip: Don't react, don't like, don't comment if you don't want to support this game. At the same time, she reminds us that valuable content should be actively supported so that social media is not dominated by provocative content.
Rage Baiting - Evaluation
Content Clusters: What does the community have to say about rage baiting?
We sorted the content by social reactions and then clustered the top comments or the replies to them. The result was three groups of posts:
Irony and self-reflection on rage baiting: Many commenters note that the post itself - although it criticizes rage baiting - uses the very mechanisms it describes by generating high engagement rates through triggered reactions. Some wonder if this was a deliberate marketing strategy or an unintended effect.
Frustration over LinkedIn's move toward clickbait: Several users have expressed frustration that LinkedIn is increasingly dominated by provocative, attention-seeking posts reminiscent of Facebook. Many report that they actively block or ignore such posts to prevent their algorithmic distribution.
Humorous and satirical reactions: Some commentators take up the topic in a playful way by exaggerating “flexing” with luxury, while others share their own experiences with provocative social media posts and discuss their influence on reach and perception.
Advanced Analysis: What are the characteristics of rage baiting?
network structure
With the help of the network representation it is possible to make statements about communication types and their interaction.
Shown are "nodes", the small points that represent acting people, and "edges", which are the connecting lines between actors or with themselves.
We also distinguish between centralized (the master account determines communication) and decentralized communication styles.
In our rage-baiting example, a lot of the conversation is centered around Sarah, but as the smaller circle clouds in the middle show, there is also a lot of conversation going on around her as well.
communication metrics
We not only measure how many comments and replies were posted, but also do further calculations to understand the nature of communication and derive instructions for action.
A total of 1,879 comments and replies were included in our measurement.
With 231 posts, Sarah Röthlisberger herself was relatively actively involved in the discussion.
At 14%, conversations were often discussed.
Comments and Social Reactions
Not all of the 1,879 comments received the same amount of social reaction. A few stood out in particular.
For the analysis, we sorted the individual comments according to social reactions. As we can see there have been some posts that triggered significantly more social interactions than the others. The social reactions by comments ratio is not distributed equally.
Post Frequency
Rage-baiting creates one-hit wonders, at least in this example, if you look at the comments. I interpret comments as a community activity and as a measure of the quality of the substantive discussion of the topic.
What is visible is a very strong temporal excitation, here on one day, with a strong decline afterwards.
Conclusion: Quality content is a community driver, rage baiting is just an extrasystole of your heart
Compared to 2 million views, the proportion of comments is very low and only in the per mille range. "Rage baiting" therefore leads to very quick, short-lived social reactions, within the scope of LinkedIn's available social response options, but not to substantial community activity.
Sarah Röthlisberger is right: Rage baiting may create short-term excitement in the form of reach, but it doesn't have a lasting impact. In her post, she, therefore, points out the importance of "valuable" content. A great takeaway for the LinkedIn community, which values relevant posts.