Recently, I saw a TikTok video by a traveling influencer showing footage of Brussels North Station accompanied by dramatic music. The text on screen? “Welcome to the worst city in Europe.” As someone who loves Brussels and is fascinated by marketing, I immediately knew what was happening: I wasn’t watching an honest travelogue, but a perfectly executed piece of Rage Baiting.
The anatomy of a ‘hate-click’
Influencers have discovered that a video praising a city to the skies often gets stuck at a few thousand views. But claim that a capital city is a “hellhole,” and the counter skyrockets.
Why? Because as humans, we are programmed to respond to injustice and negativity.
- The proud local: Residents of Brussels flock to the comments in massive numbers to defend their city.
- The algorithm confirmation: The algorithm sees thousands of comments and thinks: “This is relevant content!”
- The virality spiral: The video is pushed to even more people, which in turn leads to more angry reactions.
From a marketing perspective, this is a cynical form of ‘engagement hacking’. The quality of the interaction (anger) does not matter; only the quantity counts for advertising revenue.
A city like Brussels is reduced to a ‘thumbnail’ to generate clicks.
Technology as a catalyst for a one-sided image
What makes this interesting from a tech standpoint is how the interface of platforms like TikTok encourages this behavior. Due to the short attention span, there is no room for nuance. An influencer deliberately films the 1% of a city that looks bad and presents it as the 100%.
A city like Brussels is reduced to a ‘thumbnail’ to generate clicks, without considering the reputational damage to the local economy or tourism.
What can we learn from this? (The Management lesson)
In my work in management and marketing, we often emphasize authenticity and brand value. However, the ‘City Slander’ trend shows the dark side: in the short term, you win clicks (quantity), but in the long term, you lose your credibility (quality).
If you become known as a ‘travel creator’ who only spews negativity for views, you eventually become a parody of yourself. You are not building a community, but an audience of disaster tourists.
Look beyond the ‘bait’
The next time you see a video that completely tears down a city (or a company, or a person), ask yourself: Am I being informed here, or am I being used for someone’s engagement ratio?
Brussels certainly has its challenges. But a city is more than the worst street near the station. Let us as consumers be smarter than the algorithm and stop feeding the ‘rage bait’.
