This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
The desire to be famous through negative or destructive acts because one would rather be hated than unknown.
When it shows up
Attention-seeking violence, provocateur celebrity, edgy online identity. People who prefer infamy to obscurity.
Failure mode
For some, negative attention registers as success because any attention beats none. Public shaming fails to deter; it rewards. Media coverage of attention-seeking violence reliably produces more of it.
Countermeasure
Coverage policy: name attackers minimally, deny the infamy payoff. In personal contexts, starve attention-seeking behaviour of attention. Engaging with the behaviour is the reward it was aiming for.
Related traps
Also connected in the map3 more, locked
Credit & first seen
DiscoveredSchacter, D.L. (1999).The seven sins of memory.American Psychologist 54(3), 182-203 source ↗
Also revealed
Entry #97 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon