The Story Open: 500 viral examples

Viral TikToks that open with the story open. See which niches it wins in, the formats it pairs with, and the exact opening lines behind the biggest outliers.

Talking head is the dominant format (45% of the standouts here), the story open is the most common opener, the median lands at 60-120s. The biggest outlier — @fallandchristmasarecool — pulled 117.1M views opening with “i love this town, so magical for christmas ”.

Videos that combine 2-3 of these patterns typically see the strongest outlier scores.

Viral examples

[ 9:16 ]

82581×

@fallandchristmasarecool

i love this town, so magical for christmas

117.1M views

46355×

@suleymandolaev

I spent the day with him in Qatar

60.4M views

40132×

@yeti_dyor

Part 8: 🥲

97.4M views

[ 9:16 ]

26164×

@nebulosaazul_

Viaje part3

37.1M views

23836×

@expeditionjoe

#stitch with @syddiesue Paris the city of 🗑 #paristravel #francetravel #travelstory #ihateithere

33.8M views

20669×

@mundossalvaje

Adopté a Este Perro Abandonado

141.4M views

[ 9:16 ]

20265×

@vivid_ai

Remember Who You Are. #ai #aiart #slideshow #aesthetic #rememberwhoyouare #fyp

52.0M views

[ 9:16 ]

20099×

@iirimatic

#mexico #mexico🇲🇽 #taxco #italy #mexican #mexicocheck #usa_tiktok #travel #fyp #viral #foryoupage #videoviral #viral_video #🇲🇽 #xybca #paratiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii #latam #viajes #america

28.5M views

20008×

@ecocacolaaa

di troll tapi tetep menang 😭

53.2M views

[ 9:16 ]

18667×

@camrinscorner

#ai #chatgpt #chatgpt4 #aiart #aigeberatedart

47.9M views

13648×

@meowtakeover

بساس جدة في الاجازة! 🦟😾💪

93.3M views

[ 9:16 ]

12484×

@miso_ara

신입생 티티 신고식 챌린지2 #미소아라 #틱톡애니멀 #내펫애교 #내펫피서 #pet #foryou #fyp #틱톡순삭

85.4M views

[ 9:16 ]

12482×

@cityluxquest

#losangeles #travel #aesthetic #xyzbcafyp #foryoupage #viral #foryou #vibes #fyp #videoviral #palmtrees #Lifestyle #america🇺🇸 #tumblrgirls #justinbieber #2016

17.7M views

11989×

@beachbumblaine

📍The Sphere, Las Vegas - we saw the show post cards from Earth and it gave me goosebumps🌍Follow to see the world❤️ #travel #lasvegas #thesphere #bucketlist #underwater

17.0M views

[ 9:16 ]

11354×

@ryantwomeyy

Been a while…. #rt33 #vanlife #travel #gaming

16.1M views

[ 9:16 ]

10951×

@nikkililly

ahhh i think this is my fave look in a while!! @lorealparisuk #hair #skin #beauty #annehathaway

33.5M views

9490×

@theschoolofhardknocks

She got RICH 🤯 off Wall Street and Tech! I interviewed @Ashley M. Fox in Atlanta and I asked her how she made $10 million in one year. Since she worked on Wall Street and worked with billionaires I a

11.9M views

[ 9:16 ]

8215×

@bagahsievvaj

histery lesson and my bestie is pranking me #dc #fyp #prank #funny #misielubisie #shocked @:)

56.2M views

7898×

@twotrinitravellers

6 months of backpacking Asia and we still can’t believe we really did it!!

11.2M views

7863×

@madisonxtyler

#BlueBuffaloPartner Ollie isn't your typical Pomeranian! When we first started RVing, we never could have imagined just how much Ollie would become an adventure dog!!!🚐🏔️🐾

18.4M views

[ 9:16 ]

7674×

@ricardofloors

#parati #fyp #flooring #fyp #satisfying .

52.5M views

7557×

@naraazizasmith

family dinners 🥺

51.7M views

7443×

@ghjkioln

There’s no way this just happened 😭 #college #professor #ai #lecture

19.1M views

[ 9:16 ]

7426×

@davdlifts

Rock paper scissors food challenge @Jennifer Ngo #davidngo #mukbang #buldak

50.8M views

7018×

@daviefogartyvalue

All the business failures before success #business #ecom #entrepreneur #daviefogarty #motivation

8.8M views

6982×

@marcoandflo

Spring on Lake Como is not loud, it’s gentle.

9.9M views

[ 9:16 ]

6683×

@lyricmariahheard

The random kindness of strangers 🥹

96.9M views

6052×

@bigpapahannah

Let's eat Macaroni, Sausage and Bacon for our 2 Million Supporters Celebration! Thankyou so much Papa's!❤️

41.4M views

5979×

@nazimtiling

1. “Chasing light inside Bali’s hidden waterfall ✨💧”

40.9M views

[ 9:16 ]

5759×

@monseromoo

our long distance take💕 #fyp #xyzbca #fypシ #longdistancerelationship #ilovehim @Ixvxq

39.4M views

5727×

@danthonymagic

He didnt know what to think! #hypnosis #comedy #funny

48.6M views

5184×

@brennamandco

A few years ago, this was just a small idea I worked on from home… now it’s a business I get to wake up and grow every single day 💜

19.3M views

[ 9:16 ]

5079×

@.comics_now

Overbooked #adventuresofgod #comedy #fyp

43.1M views

[ 9:16 ]

5058×

@infamousslutttybabe

she was so real for that #theprincessandthepea #fairytail #folklore #fantasy #beautysleep #fypage #حركة_لاكسبلورر #fyppppppppppppp #fypシ

34.6M views

5007×

@nicolexerin

just tryna film some b-roll 😭

7.1M views

[ 9:16 ]

4897×

@tswmeg

When they say in sickness and in health everyone expects the sickness to come way down the line, but we can say we’ve already done it 😂 #tsw #tswhealing #oneday

33.5M views