agnesmontague replies:
before you go on lamenting the death of media literacy on the post of some guy who may, perhaps, have a financial incentive to get as many eyes on their slop as humanly possible, take a second to assess whether this "literacy" you speak of could apply to you in this very moment, because otherwise, brother, i bear some bad news

agnesmontague replies:
(quoted tumblr tag)
#anybody got pointers for those who don't know the signs of bait? (end quote)
i'm glad someone asked, though unfortunately i don't think there is any set of rules or pointers to abide by; my principle is that if a take is "too hot" (worded in an inflammatory way, way overbroad or generalized, reads offensively) on a platform that rewards engagement (twitter, tiktok, or youtube, mostly, though not confined to those), it's likely bait for the sake of baiting, although to be honest i have never once found it a loss to simply ignore/block any take online that pisses me off regardless of whether i think it is sincere or in good faith. so my rule of thumb is to just not engage, generally