The first 3 seconds: anatomy of a hook that holds

The algorithm doesn't push good videos, it pushes videos people don't leave. And the decision to stay is made in the first three seconds, on one thing: the hook.

The four families that work

Curiosity opens a loop the brain wants to close. Provocation takes the opposite side of a belief in the niche. Proof drops a number you can't ignore. Identification points straight at the person watching. The best accounts rotate all four.

Why the median and not the average

One viral video inflates the average of a mediocre hook. The median tells you what a hook does most of the time. It's the only honest metric for comparing openers, and it's the one to look at before reusing one.

Varying isn't optional

The same hook repeated across ten posts wears out an audience and alerts the platforms. Every post deserves its own opener, even when it's the same angle told differently. That's manual work, or a perfect job for an AI fed with your offer.