--- title: "The \"WTF\" Moment" description: Why brands are starting videos in the middle of the action, and what it means for viewer retention. image: https://blog.jobpixel.com/hubfs/Header%20Banner%20for%20Blog.png --- [![jobpixel-logo](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/JP_primary_logo-3.png?width=600&height=140&name=JP_primary_logo-3.png "jobpixel-logo")](http://jobpixel.com) [Skip to content](https://blog.jobpixel.com/the-wtf-moment#main-content) [![jobpixel-logo](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/JP_primary_logo-3.png?width=600&height=140&name=JP_primary_logo-3.png "jobpixel-logo")](http://jobpixel.com) Search back to blog November 5, 2026 [by Jocelyn Settle](https://blog.jobpixel.com/author/jocelyn-settle) # The "WTF" Moment [Video Hooks](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/video-hooks), [Video Marketing](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/video-marketing), [Engagement](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/engagement), [Social Media Strategy](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/social-media-strategy), [Video Retention](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/video-retention), [Video Storytelling](https://blog.jobpixel.com/tag/video-storytelling) [![FB Icon](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/social-sharing-icons/facebook-color.png?width=48&name=facebook-color.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.jobpixel.com/the-wtf-moment) [![Twitter Icon](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/social-sharing-icons/twitter-color.png?width=48&name=twitter-color.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://blog.jobpixel.com/the-wtf-moment) [![LinkedIn Icon](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/social-sharing-icons/linkedin-color.png?width=48&name=linkedin-color.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.jobpixel.com/the-wtf-moment) ![link](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hs-fs/hubfs/social-sharing-icons/link-icon.png?width=48&name=link-icon.png) ![](https://blog.jobpixel.com/hubfs/Header%20Banner%20for%20Blog.png) You know the video. You’re half-asleep scrolling TikTok or LinkedIn, and someone on screen is crying-laughing, or confessing something they probably shouldn’t, or saying a sentence so weird your thumb freezes mid-swipe. You have zero context. You NEED to know what happens next. Welcome to the "WTF" Moment. The old formula was simple: start at the beginning, build up, and eventually get to the good part. More and more creators are flipping that. They find the strangest, funniest, or most surprising moment in the footage and put it first. Context can wait. Why? Because getting someone to watch your video is no longer just about having a good story. It's about giving them a reason to care before they scroll past it.   ## **The traditional video intro is losing its appeal** Think about how companies used to approach video content. An employee introduces themselves, explains their job title, gives a little background, and eventually gets into the interesting part. That approach makes sense from a storytelling perspective. But social media doesn't necessarily reward traditional storytelling. Today's audiences are consuming content at an incredibly fast pace. Between TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and even LinkedIn video, viewers are constantly deciding what deserves their attention. If a video takes too long to get interesting, there's always another one waiting right under it. This has pushed creators and marketers to rethink how they structure their videos. Instead of saving the best moment for the end, they're bringing it to the beginning. Consider the difference: **Traditional opening:** "Hi, my name is Sarah, and I've been working at this company for five years. Today, I'm going to show you what a typical day looks like." **The WTF opening:** "I never thought I'd be doing THIS at my job." The second opening creates an immediate question. What is she doing? Why is it unexpected? What's the story behind it? Suddenly, the viewer has a reason to stick around.   ## **The psychology behind the WTF Moment** There's actually some psychology behind why this approach works. One concept worth exploring is the *curiosity gap*, introduced by behavioral economist George Loewenstein in his 1994 research, "The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation." The theory suggests that curiosity is often triggered when we recognize a gap between what we know and what we want to know. When we're given a piece of information without the full explanation, we naturally become motivated to fill in the missing details. It's the same reason cliffhangers work so well in television. When a video starts with someone saying, "I almost quit my job after my first week," the viewer immediately has questions. What happened? Why did they want to leave? Did they actually quit? The opening creates an information gap, and the rest of the video becomes the answer. This is also why unexpected visuals, unfinished sentences, surprising statements, and out-of-context clips can be so effective. They interrupt the predictable pattern of scrolling and give viewers something to think about. The goal isn't necessarily to shock someone. It's to make them curious enough to keep watching.   ## **What does the research say about viewer retention?** The importance of video hooks isn't just a social media trend. Research and platform analytics increasingly point toward the importance of capturing attention early. TikTok, for example, has emphasized the importance of the first six seconds in its creative research. Its *Creative Codes* report highlights that 90% of ad recall impact is captured within the first six seconds of an advertisement. The platform also identifies suspense, surprise, and emotion as effective ways to create anticipation and encourage viewers to keep watching. While ad recall isn't the same thing as retention, the research reinforces an important point: the opening moments of a video can have an outsized influence on its effectiveness. Academic research also supports the value of storytelling. A 2021 study by Kesha Coker, Richard Flight, and Dominic Baima, published in the *Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing*, examined how storytelling advertisements compared with more traditional argumentative advertisements. The researchers found that storytelling ads were more effective at hooking viewers. That feeling of being hooked was also positively associated with consumers' intentions to watch, share, and recommend the content. In other words, people are more likely to engage when they become invested in a story rather than simply being presented with information. And what about retention itself? YouTube gives creators a way to measure this through its Audience Retention report. The platform tracks where viewers continue watching, where they drop off, and which moments they rewatch. Interestingly, YouTube even recommends moving compelling moments earlier in a video when its analytics show that the most engaging content currently appears later. It's a pretty clear indication that the opening deserves just as much creative attention as the rest of the video.   ## **How brands can use the WTF Moment** So what does this mean for companies creating video content? For brands, particularly those focused on recruiting and employer branding, this is an opportunity to rethink how they tell employee stories. Day-in-the-life videos, employee testimonials, workplace culture content, and behind-the-scenes footage all have the potential to be engaging. But sometimes the most interesting part of the story gets buried beneath a traditional introduction. Instead of starting every employee video with a name, job title, and company introduction, consider starting with the moment that makes their story unique. For example, a day-in-the-life video could open with an unexpected moment from an employee's day before taking viewers through the rest of their routine. An employee testimonial might start with a surprising confession, like, "I actually never planned on working in this industry." Companies can also showcase their workplace culture by leading with a funny team interaction, a unique office tradition, or an unexpected behind-the-scenes moment. Even career stories can benefit from this approach. Instead of starting with a traditional introduction, an employee could open with something like, "Three years ago, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my career." Each approach gives viewers a reason to stick around and discover the story behind the opening. The best part? You don't necessarily need a professional production team or a perfectly scripted video. Often, the most compelling moments come from employees simply being themselves. With the right editing, those moments can become the starting point for an entirely different kind of story.   ## **A good hook gets attention. A good story keeps it.** Of course, there's a difference between getting someone to stop scrolling and getting them to watch an entire video. A shocking opening might grab someone's attention, but if the rest of the content doesn't deliver on that initial curiosity, viewers will quickly lose interest. That's why the WTF Moment should be treated as a starting point, not the entire strategy. Brands should experiment with different openings, compare audience retention, and pay attention to where viewers drop off. Even something as simple as creating two versions of the same video, each with a different opening, can reveal what resonates with an audience. The goal isn't to make every video shocking, overly dramatic, or clickbait-worthy. It's to find the most interesting part of the story and give viewers a reason to discover the rest. And the truth is, I just did it to you. I gave this blog a title that probably made you pause for a second. "The WTF Moment?" What does that even mean? Why are we talking about it? You clicked because you wanted to find out. And just like that, I created a little curiosity, a little confusion, and a reason for you to keep reading. In fact, I intentionally gave you a WTF Moment, so you'd sit here and read an entire long-form blog post about capturing someone's attention in the first few seconds of a short-form video. A little ironic, right? But that's exactly the point. Whether it's a 15-second Reel or a 1,352-word blog, getting someone interested enough to stick around starts with giving them a reason to care. 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