Post format · Hooks
The sharp take: real viral examples and how it's built
A short, bold first line splits the room, and both sides comment. 43 viral posts on X from 40 creators used this format between May and October 2026. Their median views were 158.4K, and their median reach 12.2 times the creator's follower count.
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Real examples
The 5 most viewed posts, one per creator.
Artem Ponomarev
@apnmrev
3.5Mviews
saudi vision 2030 is actually insane. just spoke to a 28 yo who runs advisory for saudi family offices. they’re pouring billions into anything that fits the vision: edtech with zero traction? $10m ai b2b saas for car dealerships in riyadh? $50m recycling startup with just a…
1.5K followers · Jul 28, 2026
LaurieWired
@lauriewired
3.4Mviews
you’ll get mad at me for saying this…but cloud gaming is so obviously more economically efficient than physical hardware I think it’s going to be the default soon. your home console / pc is idle 90%+ of the day. meanwhile, data centers targets what, 5%, maybe at worst 10%…
165.5K followers · Jun 27, 2026 · Photo
Luke Pierce
@lukepierceops
2.1Mviews
Starbucks spends $400 million a year on software. Yesterday they announced they're moving off IBM and Microsoft to build their own custom systems in-house. IBM dropped 3% and Salesforce dropped 4% on the news. And honestly this is, unequivocally, the biggest signal I've seen…
15.6K followers · Jul 10, 2026 · Photo
Yuchen Jin
@Yuchenj_UW
1.9Mviews
I haven’t touched Claude Code or Codex CLI in a while. The terminal era is over imo. It's the wrong interface for coding agents. Tabs are ephemeral, but context is persistent, and managing 30 tabs is pure cognitive overhead. I don’t really need an IDE like Cursor either. I…
305K followers · Oct 3, 2026
Nathan Clark
@nathanclark
1.6Mviews
it’s in gemini, just create it in ai studio. oh, that’s for your personal google one account. for workspace you need gemini business. no, not gemini advanced, that’s ai pro now. unless you need ai ultra. oh agents? you do that in spark actually. no, not gemini api managed…
3.8K followers · May 20, 2026
How it's built
Answer this first: What's a bold claim about your field you can back up? For example: “Most content calendars are planned too far ahead to be useful”. Then write one line or paragraph per bracket, in this order:
[A bold claim in one short line] [The reason, concretely] [What to do about it]
The median viral post in this format was 254 characters long, and 21% had a photo or video. Use it to show how you think.
Formats like it
- Tool to tryA tool the reader can use today is the easiest post to share.
- X vs YPutting two things side by side answers a question the reader already has.
- The list promiseA number in the hook promises a payoff the reader can count.
- Drop into the momentStarting in the middle of a real moment pulls the reader into the story.
- Lead with the numberA result in the first line, with nothing before it, is the hook.
All formats, as fill-in outlines: tweet templates and LinkedIn post templates. What's going viral right now: this week on X.
Questions
What is the sharp take post format?
A short, bold first line splits the room, and both sides comment. It goes in this order: a bold claim in one short line; then the reason, concretely; then what to do about it.
Does it work on LinkedIn as well as X?
Yes. The examples on this page are X posts, and the same shape works on LinkedIn: Postel's own list of LinkedIn openings that beat their creator's usual engagement includes one in this format. On LinkedIn, put the first beat in the first two lines, before "see more".
Where do these examples come from?
From Postel's library of individual creators on X. Each day, posts from the last two weeks by creators with at least 1,000 followers that have reached 5 times their follower count in views are checked once: a model sorts each by format, and a stronger model approves it as a clear example. 43 posts from May to October 2026 were tagged with this format; the page shows the most viewed one from each of up to five creators.
How do I write a post in this format in my own voice?
Answer one question first: What's a bold claim about your field you can back up? Then fill the template on this page with your answer, one beat at a time. In Postel, pick this format under Viral posts › Formats and it writes the post for X, LinkedIn or both from your answer, in the way you write (one AI credit per network).
I'm one of the examples. Can I have my post removed?
Yes. Send the post's link through the contact form at postel.app/contact and it comes off this page within a few days.