/tt-trend-mapper

name: tt-trend-mapper
description: "Map a trending TikTok sound or format to your niche so the ride is authentic, not cringe. Runs a fit check (does it match your niche, is it still early, what is the native joke), then scripts the twist that makes the trend yours: the recognizable beat plus a niche-specific turn. Covers sound timing, the trend lifecycle, and when to skip a trend entirely. Use to ride a trend without looking late or forced. Not for a from-scratch hook (use tt-hook-scripter) or a posting plan (use tt-content-planner)."

TikTok Trend Mapper

Riding a trend is a distribution lever: a trending sound carries built-in reach, and a familiar format lowers the barrier to watch. But a trend copied with no twist is forgettable, and a trend forced onto a clashing niche reads as cringe and costs trust. This skill decides whether to ride, and if so, scripts the twist that makes the trend yours.

When to use

• User saw a trending sound or format and wants to use it for their niche
• User asks "should I jump on this trend" or "how do I make this trend mine"
• User's trend attempts feel late or forced and they want the fit check
• Before `tt-hook-scripter` when the hook is a trend-ride (formula T10)

What this skill produces

• **A fit verdict:** ride it, bend it hard, or skip it (with the reason)
• **The trend teardown:** the native joke / structure / beat, and why it works
• **The twist:** the recognizable beat plus the niche-specific turn, scripted as

a hook (spoken line + on-screen text + visual)

• **A timing read:** is the trend still early, peaking, or stale
• **A skip recommendation** when the trend does not fit (saying no is a feature)

The fit check (run this first)

Four questions. A trend has to clear all four to be worth riding.

1. **Does it match your niche?** Can your audience tell why you, specifically, did this trend? If the only connection is "it was trending", skip it. 2. **Is it still early?** A sound in its first 1 to 3 days of climbing carries the most lift. If it is already on every third video, you read as late. Check how saturated the sound and format already are. 3. **Is there a native structure to honor?** Most trends have an expected beat (a setup line, a specific cut, a punchline placement). Riding it means hitting that beat, then twisting it, not ignoring it. 4. **Can you add a real twist?** The twist is the whole point. If you cannot bend the trend to say something only your niche would say, the ride is filler.

If a trend fails the fit check, **recommend skipping it.** A skipped trend costs nothing. A cringe ride costs trust.

The trend lifecycle

| Stage | What you see | Move | |---|---|---| | **Emerging** | a sound or format on a few breakout videos, climbing fast | ride now, this is the window | | **Peaking** | it is everywhere, big accounts are on it | ride only with a strong twist, expect less lift | | **Saturated** | every third video uses it, the joke is worn | skip, or subvert it (do the opposite) | | **Dead** | it stopped climbing days ago | skip; using it now reads as late |

The reach boost lives in the emerging stage. By saturation the sound is just a sound.

Scripting the twist

Once a trend clears the fit check, build the ride as a hook (formula T10):

1. **Hit the recognizable beat first.** The first second has to read as the trend, or you lose the built-in recognition. 2. **Twist into your niche by the turn.** "{the trend's expected setup}, but for {your niche}" is the core move. The twist is the surprise that makes it shareable inside your audience ("they did the trend, but for us"). 3. **Keep the native structure.** If the trend has a cut on the beat drop, cut on the beat drop. Honoring the format is what signals you get it. 4. **Hand the spoken line to `tt-humanizer`** so the script does not sound written. Hand the full hook to `tt-caption-writer` for the caption.

Steps

1. **Gather inputs.** The trend (a sound link, a format description, or an example video URL), the user's niche, and what they usually post. 2. **Parse any URL.** `lib.url_parser.parse_tiktok_url(url)` extracts the handle and video id from an example video. 3. **Run the fit check.** Score all four questions. If it fails, recommend skip and explain why (saying no honestly builds more trust than a forced ride). 4. **Read the lifecycle stage.** Ask the user how saturated they have seen it; place it on the emerging-to-dead scale. 5. **Tear down the native structure.** Name the beat, the joke, the expected cut. 6. **Script the twist** as a T10 hook (spoken line + on-screen text + visual). 7. **Humanizer pass** on the spoken line (`tt-humanizer` V3: AI vocab by density, stacked triads, reveal bridges, sincerity openers; make it sayable, never insert a punch line). 8. **Hand off.** `tt-caption-writer` for the caption and a sound-credit note; `tt-content-planner` if the trend ride is one slot in the week.

Hard rules

Global voice rules: see root `SKILL.md` Voice rules. Additional skill-specific rules:

• A trend with no niche fit gets a skip recommendation. Do not force it.
• The twist is mandatory. A trend copied straight is filler.
• Ride early or do not ride. A stale trend reads as late.
• Honor the native structure (the beat, the cut, the joke placement).
• Never fabricate a trend's popularity. If you do not know the saturation, ask.

Anti-patterns (skill will refuse)

• "Just do the trend because it is trending" with no twist and no fit.
• Forcing a sound onto a niche it clashes with.
• Riding a sound that is already saturated and calling it timely.
• Ignoring the trend's native structure and slapping the sound on unrelated video.
• A twist that punches down or mocks the original creator.

Resources

• `../../references/algorithm-heuristics.md` - sound selection, the trend window, original audio
• `../../references/hook-formulas.md` - T10 Trend-Ride With A Twist (three layers)

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