Clare Wiznura's master’s thesis concentrated on identifying anger in online environments, analyzing how people express frustration, hostility and outrage./UBCO

By Vernon Matters Staff

online anger

UBCO researcher studies ‘hot anger’ and ‘rage bait’

Jan 5, 2026 | 4:30 PM

We’ve often heard about online anger feeling more explosive than it does in a face-to-face situation.

Well, new research from a UBC Okanagan suggests that difference is not accidental.

Clare Wiznura found that general social media comment sections were far more likely to contain what researchers describe as “hot” anger, as opposed to interpersonal exchanges that show greater emotional regulation.

In a media release, UBCO said Wiznura focused her interdisciplinary studies master’s thesis on identifying anger in online environments, analyzing how people express frustration, hostility and outrage across social media and survey-based interactions.

“One of the biggest differences we saw was how controlled people were when they believed they were speaking directly to someone,” Wiznura says. “Even when participants were clearly upset, they were more measured. They asked questions. They avoided using all capital letters and insults. That restraint largely disappeared in more general online spaces.”

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The research examined both general online commentary and direct, interpersonal communication to understand how language changes depending on who is being addressed—and how.

Wiznura’s research found that general social media comment sections were far more likely to contain what researchers describe as “hot” anger—language that is loud, aggressive and emotionally charged. In contrast, interpersonal exchanges showed greater emotional regulation, even when disagreement or frustration was present.

“This aligns with something we intuitively know,” Wiznura says. “Online, there’s often a decreased sense of social presence. People feel more comfortable being mean in ways they likely wouldn’t be in person, even though we know these are still real people on the other side.”

A key takeaway from the research was the importance of context.

More than half of survey participants said they could not confidently interpret whether language was angry or hostile without knowing what it was responding to, or what relationship existed between speakers.

“The same words could be interpreted very differently depending on the situation,” says Wiznura. “People repeatedly said, ‘If this was the context, then, yes, it’s angry. If it’s another context, maybe not.’ That makes emotional language much harder to categorize than we often assume.”

The research also examined rage bait—content intentionally designed to provoke outrage and drive engagement. Wiznura notes that rage bait does not require the original poster to be angry themselves.

“Rage bait has become a significant factor in how anger circulates online,” says Dr. Christine Schreyer, Professor of Anthropology and Wiznura’s supervisor. “People may not be angry themselves, but they are deliberately provoking anger in others. Clare’s research highlights how important it is to account for that dynamic when studying language and emotion in digital spaces.”

The research arrives amid growing public conversation about online outrage and engagement-driven platforms.

Oxford University Press named “rage bait” its Word of the Year for 2025, reflecting how widely the concept has entered everyday language.

For Dr. Schreyer, the label is useful but the behaviour behind it has been visible for longer.

“Words of the Year reflect an emphasis in society, something that represents a snapshot in time. The fact that rage bait is Oxford’s 2025 Word of the Year indicates the cultural significance of online discourse in contemporary society,” says Dr. Schreyer.

Wiznura is careful not to overextend the findings, particularly when asked to draw broad conclusions about society.

“It’s very easy to feel connected through social media, but that connection is fundamentally different from in-person relationships,” says Wiznura. “There’s real value in what we sometimes call ‘third spaces’—libraries, community centres, places where people gather without a screen in between. We’ve known for a while that online spaces impact how we communicate.

“Understanding how anger works in those environments is a necessary step toward engaging with each other more thoughtfully.”