Hook machine

Hook Machine

The hook is 90% of the outcome. On every feed, the first 1-3 seconds (video) or first line (text) decides whether the algorithm keeps showing your content — because it measures whether humans stopped. A great piece with a weak hook dies; a mediocre piece with a great hook travels. So generate many hooks and select ruthlessly; never ship the first one.

The mechanism a hook must trigger

A scroll-stopping hook creates an open loop the brain needs to close. It does one of: promises a specific outcome, breaks a pattern/expectation, names a tension the viewer feels, or makes a claim they must verify. If it does none of these, it's a topic label, not a hook.

Method — generate wide, then cut

1. Extract the payload. What's the single most valuable/surprising thing in this content? The hook sells that, not the topic.
2. Run the hook archetypes — generate 3-5 hooks per archetype:
   • Contrarian — "Everything you've been told about X is wrong."
   • Specific result — "How I got 12,000 followers in 9 days with 3 posts."
   • Curiosity gap — "The one setting that doubled my reach (nobody talks about it)."
   • Callout — "If you post daily and still get 200 views, watch this."
   • Stakes/loss — "You're losing followers every time you do this."
   • Story cold-open — "I almost deleted this account. Then this happened."
   • Question they can't not answer — "Why do some 5-second clips get 2M views?"
   • Number/list — "5 hooks that print reach."
3. Sharpen with specificity. Replace vague words with numbers, timeframes, names. "Grow fast" → "0 to 10k in 30 days." Specific = believable = clickable.
4. Front-load. The stopping word must be in the first 3 words. Cut every warm-up syllable ("So today I want to talk about…" → delete).
5. Score & cut. Rate each hook 1-5 on: stops-the-scroll, curiosity, specificity, truthfulness. Ship only 4s and 5s.

Output template

## Hooks for: <content> | Platform: <x> | Audience: <who>
Payload (what the hook sells): <the one valuable thing>

### Top 5 (ranked)
1. "<hook>" — archetype: <..> — why it works: <..>
...
### Bench (10-15 more, by archetype)
<grouped list>

### Paired visual/text-on-screen (first frame)
<3 on-screen text options for the first frame/thumbnail>

Platform variants

• TikTok/Reels/Shorts: spoken hook + on-screen text hook must differ and stack; movement in frame 1.
• YouTube (long): title + thumbnail text are the hook; they must create one loop together, not repeat.
• X/Threads: first line only; the second line must earn the "show more" click.
• LinkedIn: first 2 lines before "…more"; lead with a concrete result or a contrarian claim, never a preamble.

Rules

• Never ship the first hook. Generate 15+, ship the best 1-3.
• No preamble. If the first 3 words don't stop a thumb, rewrite.
• Specific beats clever. A real number outperforms a pun.
• The hook must be true to the content — a hook the payload doesn't pay off kills retention and trust (the algorithm punishes the drop-off).
• Match the viewer's existing conversation in their head; don't announce your topic, enter their tension.