Viral hook
A viral hook is the first 1–3 seconds of a short-form video clip — the line, image, or question designed to stop the thumb-scroll and earn the next 5 seconds of attention. In 2026, hooks that lead with a specific number, a stand-alone declarative sentence, or a contradiction outperform vague openers by an order of magnitude in retention.
Hooks are the highest-leverage edit decision in short-form video. The TikTok and Reels algorithms weight retention from second 0 to second 3 disproportionately — a clip that loses viewers in the first 3 seconds gets distributed to fewer feeds regardless of how strong the rest of the clip is. A hook that holds the first 3 seconds gives the algorithm permission to keep showing the clip.
Strong hook patterns: the specific-number opener ("I lost $80,000 in one afternoon"), the contradiction ("Everything you've heard about cold outreach is wrong"), the unfinished sentence ("The reason most coaches plateau at $10K months is..."), the visual disruption (jump-cut, unexpected cut, sudden volume change). Weak hook patterns: pleasantries, throat-clearing ("so basically", "yeah, I think"), context-setting before the payoff.
AI clip generators score candidates partly on hook strength. Clipzing.com surfaces clips where the first sentence stands alone as a complete thought; clips that open with conversational filler get scored down.
Examples
- “"I lost $80,000 in one afternoon. Here's what happened."”
- “"Three months ago, I would've told you this was impossible."”
- “"The cheapest way to lose $1M is to hire a consultant."”
Related terms
Viral score
A viral score is an AI-generated numerical estimate of how likely a candidate video clip is to perform on short-form platforms. AI clip generators compute viral scores by analyzing multiple signals — speech cadence, hook strength, length, visual cuts, emotional peaks — and ranking candidate clips so creators publish the highest-scoring ones first.
Watch time
Watch time is the cumulative duration viewers spend watching a video, expressed either as average watch duration per view or as percentage retention curve across the clip's length. For short-form algorithms (TikTok, Reels, Shorts), watch time is the dominant ranking signal — clips with high retention get distributed to more feeds regardless of like/comment counts.
B-roll
B-roll is supplementary footage cut into a video to support or illustrate the main A-roll (the speaker on camera). In short-form video, B-roll is typically 1–4 second inserts of relevant imagery, gameplay, screen recordings, or stock footage that visualize what the speaker is describing. Used well, B-roll boosts retention; used to cover the punchline, it kills replay.
Jump cut
A jump cut is a video edit that removes time between two similar shots, creating a visible discontinuity in the speaker's position or framing. In short-form video, jump cuts compress speech (cutting out pauses, filler words, slow segments) to maintain the fast pacing the format demands. A well-executed jump cut every 3–5 seconds keeps retention high.