SF's Hot List Shows the Ragebait Economy Is Still Raging, Wired Columnist Says
kyliebytes · x · 2026-09-03
Wired columnist Kylie Robison breaks down the viral "San Francisco's Hot List": Celeste Amadon solicited self-nominations for a list of the city's most dateable people, scored on attraction, ambition, accomplishment, reputation and aura.
- The post flooded feeds with mockery of SF's stereotypical nerd aesthetic, dubbing locals "spiritually LinkedIn" and cringe.
- Robison likens it to Facemash 20 years later: Silicon Valley ranking faces again, without Hinge-style safeguards against harassment.
- Core argument: it's the ragebait economy at work — the backlash is the product.
Related event: SF "Hot List" Goes Viral, Reigniting Ragebait Attention Economy(3 posts)→
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