How to make viral AI videos, without pretending there's a formula

• YouTube's help pages say Shorts recommendations look at whether viewers choose to watch or skip a Short, how long they stay, the average percentage viewed, likes and survey answers, and that YouTube doesn't favour a particular format.
• TikTok's creative best practices, written for ads, tell advertisers to put the hook in the first six seconds and lead with suspense, surprise or emotion.
• Both ask creators to label realistic AI-generated video. TikTok requires it; YouTube requires disclosure for realistic altered or synthetic content.

Read together: people choosing to watch, and then staying, is what moves a short. Everything below is about earning those two things.

The pattern: a format people already know, plus one thing that couldn't happen, delivered in seconds.

1. 01

   Hook in two seconds

   Open on a face, a movement or a wrong detail. Never scenery.

2. 02

   One big question

   By second three the viewer should know what someone wants and what it'll cost.

3. 03

   Re-hook every five to ten seconds

   Change the information: a reveal, a new angle, a new problem.

4. 04

   Land the turn late

   Put the payoff in the last 10 to 20 percent. Plant the clue early so it feels fair.

5. 05

   End where it began

   A loop or a sharp last image makes people watch again.

6. 06

   Title with a specific noun

   Three to six words: a thing plus a contradiction, danger or desire. “This wooden horse is WAY too loud.”

7. 07

   Kill the slop

   Melting hands and stiff voices make people scroll. See what AI slop is.

Posting to your own feed spends your reach on a guess. On StreamingWars every short goes head-to-head with a similar short in front of real voters, so you see whether people pick it, how much they watch and whether anyone calls it slop. Make three versions of an idea, keep the one people choose. Standout shorts can then be reposted to StreamingWars' own TikTok, YouTube and X accounts with their creator credited.