Rageketing

A book by Oscar Cartagena

Rageketing

From engagement to
enragement

Platforms learned that outrage pays, then rewired the world to deliver it. This book names that architecture, follows the money, and maps a way out.

Get launch updates See what’s inside
Read

The rage machine

How platforms learned that outrage pays — and rewired the world to deliver it.

Every click you make is being monetized. Not your preferences. Not your values. Your anger.

RAGEKETING names, maps, and dismantles the architecture that turns human emotion into shareholder value. From the São Paulo creator choosing income over ethics, to the Manila moderator drowning in flagged content, to the Helsinki librarian fighting back — this is the system we built, and a blueprint for taking it apart.

15Chapters
129Sources cited
5Continents
3Platforms

The algorithm does not distinguish between true and false. It distinguishes between engaging and ignored. And outrage, it has learned, is the most reliable predictor of engagement.

RAGEKETING, Chapter 5

What you will find inside

Five parts. Fifteen chapters. One architecture laid bare.

Part I

The Phenomenon

  • Chapter 1

    Defining rageketing in the attention economy

    What rageketing is, why it works, and how the attention economy became its perfect habitat.

  • Chapter 2

    The business model — who profits from rage?

    Creator funds, brand deals, and the financial architecture that rewards provocation over competence.

  • Chapter 3

    How algorithms reward anger

    The neuroscience of engagement. Why your amygdala is worth more than your intellect to a recommendation engine.

Part II

The Mechanism

  • Chapter 4

    Platform-specific deep dives

    YouTube, TikTok, X: three architectures, one destination — emotional activation.

  • Chapter 5

    Misinformation and emotional manipulation

    Why false information outperforms truth. The emotion-misinformation feedback loop.

Part III

The Consequences

  • Chapter 6

    Mental health and psychological harms

    Doomscrolling, anxiety, emotional contagion — the human cost of attention extraction.

  • Chapter 7

    Democratic and social polarization

    Filter bubbles, affective polarization, and the erosion of shared reality.

  • Chapter 8

    AI and algorithmic feedback loops

    Automated rage bait, contaminated training data, and the arms race you cannot see.

Part IV

Systemic Analysis

  • Chapter 9

    Deepfakes and the authenticity crisis

    When synthetic media meets emotional targeting. The liar’s dividend and the post-truth economy.

  • Chapter 10

    Behavioral economics of outrage

    Why anger feels productive. The compulsion-to-correct loop and the scarcity of attention.

  • Chapter 11

    The regulatory landscape

    DSA, Section 230, and the enforcement gap between legislation and platform power.

Part V

Systemic Implications

  • Chapter 12

    Mitigation strategies and evidence

    What works: fact-checking optimization, prebunking, and building resilience — individual and institutional.

  • Chapter 13

    The macroeconomic impact of rageketing

    GDP drag, labor market effects, and the commodification of consciousness.

  • Chapter 14

    Future threats and emerging concerns

    Generative AI, neuromarketing, AR/VR — the next frontier of attention extraction.

  • Chapter 15

    Towards a healthier information ecosystem

    Multi-stakeholder governance, business model alternatives, and the path back to cognitive autonomy.

About the author

Oscar Cartagena is a serial entrepreneur, business developer, and immersive technology consultant with more than twenty-seven years of experience at the intersection of creativity, technology, and human behavior.

He is the founder and president of ACHEX A.G. (Asociación Chilena de Experiencias Inmersivas), Chile’s leading organization for immersive technology policy and industry development. His advisory work spans the XR Safety Initiative, the Women of the Future Board of Trustees, AIXR, AWE XR, and CRTIC Strategic Advisory.

As a speaker, he has delivered bilingual keynotes on three continents about technology, policy, and the future of human attention. His creative practice runs parallel: under the aliases ORTOKORE and SPIRALHEADZ, he has spent nearly two decades navigating the same attention economy he writes about.

oscarcartagena.com LinkedIn X