Students are excited to live in rage after Seton Hall announced a rage-baiting course on April 1, following recent online student demand.
Officially titled RAGE-BAIT 1001: “Written and Verbal Inflammatory Content Production,” the course’s creation was inspired by multiple Fizz posts that urged the university to take action against students’ deliberately inflammatory speech.
“I need a course on rage-baiting…all ya wanna do is troll,” a Fizz post read.
The post received hundreds of upvotes within 24 hours.
Rather than confronting this incendiary speech with action, the university decided to confront it with speech, encouraging its students to master the art of rage-baiting.
The course will cover various rage-baiting techniques, including strategic provocative speech, intentional idiocracy, and the arts of narcissism and manipulation.
Herman Oswald, a freshman anger management major, said that once one grasps the skill of manipulation and rage bait, people will “actually end up believing you,” which, to him, is the most difficult aspect of mastery.
Despite the thorough topics covered in the course, Phillip Rutherford, a freshman diplomacy major, believes the course may lack the true nature of rage-baiting.
“Rage-baiting really comes from just analyzing the person themselves,” Rutherford said. “If you just saying stuff without knowing who they are, it's really not gonna impact them.”
Upon reading the university’s announcement, Reggie Mack, a junior business major, said this was the “best news [he’s] heard ever.”
“I almost dropped down to my knees in the Starbucks line,” Mack said.
The addition of this course is "necessary," according to Oswald because “people don’t know how to take a joke these days.”
Students who have experienced the harsh reality of the rage-baiting epidemic are “elated” about the course, as Rutherford said.
“I'm always getting rage-bated and everyone be making fun of me,” Rutherford said. “I be falling for every time.”
For Rutherford, the biggest point of interest for rage-baiters is his “two first names.”
“They always talk about my name being Phillip, saying ‘Your name is really bad,’” Rutherford said. “It’s kind of annoying that I can't express myself as really being Phillip Rutherford.”
A study found that being prone to rage-baiting affects friendships.
“It actually affects one out of every three friendships, so if you’re easily rage-baited, take this course so you’re not as prone,” Oswald said.
Rage-baiting fosters a community, students say, as Mack believes the skills taught in the course will lead to a more positive student environment.
“[Students] are gonna be getting into heated arguments, making them closer,” Mack said. “I hope the course teaches students to just live for the bullshit.”
DISCLAIMER: The Shhh…tonian is a satirical version of The Setonian. These stories shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Lakyn Austin is the head editor for The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at lakyn.austin@student.shu.edu.
