What group are you in?
Apparently, the one to be in is “Group 7″ — but the why is less clear. What started as a harmless way for singer Sophia James, a former contestant on Season 18 of “American Idol,” to get her single out to the masses turned into a viral trend that has some feeling left out.
James told The Post that she’d heard that content creators needed to “bully” the algorithm to get something to go viral, so she recently experimented by posting a series of seven videos, each with her “So Unfair” song playing in the background.
“All I was trying to do was promote my song,” she said.
In her videos, which consisted of her doing things like receiving a parking ticket, she assigned viewers to different “groups” based on the order in which they viewed the posts.
Her final one — video No. 7 — reached 16.3 million views in just four days, and has now surpassed 20 million views.
James, being playful about the entire thing, declared those lucky ones who saw the seventh video to be in “Group 7.”
Well, leave it to social media to take something and run with it. The comment section on that last video exploded with users celebrating their newfound membership in “Group 7,” calling it the “elite” group, the “coolest” group, and even the “hot girl group.”
TikTokker Aaden Pierce even went so far as to make a video savagely asking, “When are we going to take over Groups 6,5,4,3,2 and 1? Cause Group 7 is the best out of all of them.”
“This is the silliest thing I’ve ever witnessed. It’s very bizarre. It’s just one big joke,” James told The Post.
While the singer didn’t have any ill intent with her videos and silly “group 7” phrasing — the gal just wanted to get her single to go viral — the internet has turned it into something that is causing many to feel excluded from.
Think back to when you were in school and you weren’t in on the joke everyone was giggling about. Or the popular kids were sitting at a lunch table that you weren’t invited to sit at. That’s what this feels like to many, in a way.
TikTokker Raxter Riley claimed she felt triggered by the trend.
“POV Everyone you know got invited to Group 7, but you didn’t, and suddenly you’re thrown back to when you were bullied and left out in school,” she captioned a video of herself looking sadly into the camera.
“Dancing with the Stars” pro Ezra Sosa shared a video of himself snarkily asking his fellow dancers if they’re a part of Group 7, causing those who didn’t know what he was talking about to become flustered and almost embarrassed.
James revealed that there really are no other groups. It’s mostly just if you know, you know — a silly made-up thing that many will probably forget about in a week or so before another trend takes off.
“I don’t think there really is anyone in Groups 1 through 6. There’s this phantom enemy that really doesn’t exist. Group 7 is everyone,” she said.
So much so that James has taken the trend one step further by organizing a Group 7 meet-up to make everyone feel included.
“This is the funniest thing I have ever seen and I think you should all meet in real life,” James wrote on her website.
Speaking of trends that many have had enough of — the “six-seven” one that stemmed from the viral song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by rapper Skrilla, is a chant that has become an inside joke on TikTok.
It’s often used without much context, and while it’s widely popular, it doesn’t carry the same sense of exclusivity or “group membership” that Group 7 does.
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