The end of the hook
Feeds are getting slower on purpose. What that means for a format built entirely on the first second.
Two platforms this year have quietly changed how they weight watch time against completion. The short version: a post that holds for eight seconds now beats one that grabs for two and loses.
The hook is not dead. It has just stopped being sufficient. The question we brief now is not 'what stops the thumb' but 'what keeps the thumb still'.
In our own data, posts with a second beat at the four-second mark have gained 31% in average watch time since March. Posts that front-load everything into the first second have lost 12%.
Practically: plan the middle. The middle used to be where the product went because nobody was watching. Now it is where the reason to stay goes.