Meaning
What does Hot take mean?
A Hot take is a strongly unpopular opinion that is purposely shared to cause controversy.
It is strongly worded, written under time pressure and often the instant reaction to some recent news.
“Hot takes” rarely offer much insight and deep thinking.
It can be compared to eating your food while it is still too hot. You should have let it cool a little, but you couldn’t, and now you got burnt.
The “hot take” is written with very little research, morals, reports and information – but it gets hell of a lot of attention!
Origin
What's the origin of Hot take?
While we have historically come across the term before, it first gained popularity in 2012, when Tomás Ríos took a “hot take” on covering quarterback Tim Tebow’s performance in the National Football League.
In 2014 it was mentioned again in other forms of journalism, and was increasingly used after.
Spread & Usage
How did Hot take spread?
John Herrman wrote a piece on The Awl in 2014 explaining that the economic pressure on journalists causes the instant, uninsightful, controversial “hot takes”.
In 2015, Buzzfeed editor Ben Smith shared a Twitter post stating “We are trying not to do hot takes”, as people reacted to the Internet media removing their two last articles that caused controversy.
It has since been used as a term to describe impulsive, problematic opinions.
External resources
- How-To Geek – What Is a “Hot Take,” and Where Did the Phrase Come From?
- Know Your Meme – Hot Take