The best hooks for meme and reaction reels, from 1,441 that went viral
We read the opening line of every viral meme and reaction reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
"Put your phone in your mouth and cover your ears." It reads like a dare. On a reel from an account with 12,469 followers, it pulled 25.8 million views.
Meme pages live or die on the first second, and 93% of these reels are meant to be funny. We read how every one of the 1,441 viral meme and reaction reels in Aubrium's library opens, from 1,193 creators, to see which jokes got people to stay. It's a page in our guide to hooks across every niche, and the list of every niche we read has the rest.
Relatable lines are the most common hook on viral meme and reaction reels, on 37% of them, and curiosity gaps went further, 62 times the creator's followers against 49. Callouts, on 4%, went furthest, at 70. Only 8% have no hook of any type, and 79% put it on screen. The shortest hooks, 1–4 words, travelled 63 times.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of hook works best for meme and reaction reels?
Relatable lines lead by a distance, at 37%. The curiosity gap carries further, and the small group of callouts carries furthest.
Relatable lines, like "Me returning to work after a 2 week vacation:", reached 49 times their creator's followers for the middle reel. Curiosity gaps, on 23% of these reels, reached 62. Callouts, 57 reels that name a group or a type of person, reached 70. Only 8% have no hook of any type, and those went 57 times.
16 meme and reaction hooks that went viral
Each is the most-viewed reel from its creator, picked by hand. We left out jokes that land on a nationality, a race or a politician. Tap a type to see only those.
- Curiosity gapText on screen
Put your phone in your mouth and cover your ears
- Curiosity gapText and spoken
A normal person's keyboard, a single person's keyboard.
- RelatableText on screen
Their faces 👻 cracked me up 😂🤣
- QuestionSpoken
What do you want to be when you grow up?
- RelatableText on screen
Me returning to work after a 2 week vacation:
- RelatableSpoken
I can't be the only one that thought he was going to hit the ground.
- RelatableText on screen
DADS CRASHING OUT 😂
- Curiosity gapText on screen
16 years later and still couldn't get over the grandma incident 😂
- Curiosity gapText on screen
Not a single person predicted the escape plan 😂
- CalloutText on screen
VOLLEYBALL CORE
- POVText and spoken
POV : Me trying to survive the INFLATION in 2026
- Number listText and spoken
This is the top five cringiest videos to watch. Get ready to literally die of cringe.
- Bold claimText and spoken
They regretted giving him the mic
- CalloutText and spoken
Artists who can sing vs. Artists who can't
- RelatableText on screen
When your friend gives good advice but is the problem
- NegativeText and spoken
He threw his food at me after getting kicked off the flight 😡
How long should a meme and reaction hook be?
Tiny. Hooks of 1–4 words went furthest, and every longer band travelled about as far as the others.
The middle reel with a 1–4 word hook reached 63 times its creator's followers. Every other length landed between 42 and 46. Long setups travelled about as far as medium ones; only the shortest labels pulled ahead.
Should you say the hook or show it?
Show it. 71% of these reels open with text on screen alone, and those went furthest.
The middle text-only reel reached 53 times its creator's followers. A voice alone reached 42, and saying it while showing it just 31. The caption on top of the clip is still the meme.
How do viral meme and reaction hooks start?
"When" leads, on 51 English hooks, ahead of "this" at 38 and "me", "POV" and "the" at 35 each. "Ranking" makes the list at 26: the ranked-list meme is its own small genre here.
- when 51
- this 38
- me 35
- POV 35
- the 35
- I 33
- ranking 26
- how 21
- bro 17
- I'm 12
- why 11
- my 9
The first word of 784 English hooks on viral meme and reaction reels, and how many start with it.
Four openings from the library, each a real meme or reaction hook:
POV…
“POV : Me trying to survive the INFLATION in 2026”
When… / If you…
“When your friend gives good advice but is the problem”
I… / My…
“I can't be the only one that thought he was going to hit the ground.”
A question
“What is faster, sound or light?”
Keep reading
For formats, faces and sound, see how meme and reaction reels go viral. Close by: the hooks behind viral film and TV reels, anime hooks and the hooks pop culture pages use.
Questions people ask
What is a good hook for a meme reel?
Relatable lines are the most common on viral meme and reaction reels, on 37% of them. Curiosity gaps went further, 62 times the creator's followers for the middle one, and callouts furthest, at 70.
How long should a meme hook be?
The shortest stood out. On viral meme and reaction reels, hooks of 1–4 words travelled 63 times the creator's followers, and every longer band sat between 42 and 46.
Should a reaction video put the hook on screen?
Yes. 79% of viral meme and reaction reels show the hook as text, and text alone went 53 times the creator's followers for the middle reel, against 42 for a voice alone.
Do meme reels have to be funny?
Almost all are: 93% of viral meme and reaction reels are meant to be funny, and skits, at 37%, are the biggest format.
How many views do viral meme reels get?
The middle one has 810,226 views, and 653 of the 1,441 in Aubrium's library passed a million.
How we did this
We looked at every meme and reaction reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 1,441 reels from 1,193 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's meme and reaction niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Hook types, delivery and on-screen text are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Hook length and first words count the 784 reels with an English hook in words. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
Read next
Niches5 min readThe best hooks for fitness reels, from 16,974 that went viralWe read the opening line of every viral fitness reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
Niches6 min readThe best hooks for sketch comedy reels, from 5,649 that went viralWe read the opening line of every viral sketch comedy reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
Niches6 min readThe best hooks for real estate reels, from 5,145 that went viralWe read the opening line of every viral real estate reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.