Startups increasingly treat public anger as validation because outrage fuels the algorithm and lowers customer-acquisition costs. The ethics of a product become a marketing asset rather than a constraint.
— If outrage is a key performance indicator, public debate and market signals will be warped toward provocations, not genuine value creation.
Arnold Kling
2025.10.16
62% relevant
Lionel Page’s 'context collapse' and social‑recognition framing depicts social media as a competitive stage where creators trade edginess/novelty for attention, risking negative judgment—aligning with the notion that outrage and provocation are algorithmically rewarded and treated as validation.
Sebastian Jensen
2025.09.05
57% relevant
The author argues post‑2021 the online right rewards arguing, criticizing, and infighting, which benefits some participants while hurting the movement—mirroring the idea that outrage functions as a KPI in attention markets.
George Dunn
2025.09.02
77% relevant
Southern describes the engagement loop—likes, shares, and comments—creating pressure to make ever more provocative content, mirroring the 'outrage as KPI' dynamic where attention validates and escalates spectacle.
Ted Gioia
2025.08.24
60% relevant
The logo backlash—petitions, pundit fights, stock dip—shows how engineered outrage over branding validates and amplifies a product’s 'authenticity' narrative, mirroring how outrage becomes a growth lever in attention markets.
by Avi Asher-Schapiro and Christopher Bing
2025.08.22
70% relevant
DOGE and Elon Musk amplified an incendiary claim on X ('USIP funded Taliban') that drove mass outrage and attention, treating virality as validation while ignoring ground truth and externalities; the resulting backlash reportedly triggered Taliban security actions against the named contractor’s family.
Felix Pope
2025.08.21
80% relevant
The article details how 'auditor' YouTubers intentionally provoke confrontations (security guards, migrants, officials) because heightened conflict drives views and growth, which in turn fuels movement-building and political impact.
Aporia
2025.08.20
55% relevant
The noted review by Rathje and Van Bavel that high‑arousal, moralistic, negative information spreads most readily supports the mechanism behind startups and media leveraging outrage for growth.
Arnold Kling
2025.08.17
60% relevant
Andrey Mir’s point that social media turns content into a medium for agonistic status contests ('The Current Thing') aligns with the idea that outrage and affirmation become growth levers, driving what is deemed significant.
Josh Zlatkus
2025.07.16
60% relevant
The article argues that quantifying attention as a currency incentivizes ever-better methods to capture it, regardless of user welfare—aligning with the notion that engagement metrics (including outrage) become a KPI that steers product and discourse toward provocation over value.
Julia Steinberg
2025.06.30
100% relevant
Cluely’s manifesto line: 'Outrage is proof of concept,' paired with its viral ad campaign and ensuing media coverage converting controversy into revenue.