Viral TikTok trend explained: What is ’Group 7’ and what does it mean if you’re in it?

“This song isn’t viral, you’re just in Group 7.”

Yet another TikTok trend is leaving many confused. What exactly is Group 7 and more importantly, how do you get in it?

Like many online crazes, Group 7 feeds off a feeling of exclusivity: you want to know what it means, but you also want to be part of it.

To find out if you’re in, all you need to do is download TikTok and start scrolling.

It probably won’t be long before you are assigned a group by singer Sophia James.

She went viral this week after conducting an “experiment” to test the platform’s algorithm. James posted seven videos with her music in the background, each labelled with a group number.

Each video performed pretty well, gathering millions of views a piece, but one stood out among the rest.

You guessed it, Group 7.

“If you’re watching this video you’re in Group 7. I’ve posted seven videos tonight and this is the seventh one,” James said.

“Just as a little science experiment, to see what video, what kind of video gets the most reach out of the seven.

“And I don’t know what that says about you but, you’re in Group 7, welcome!”

The video exploded online, gathering more than 46.5 million views. Many users who claim to have seen the video on their For You Page are now speculating as to why they were “selected”.

It feels like something out of the 2010s young adult dystopian craze that Gen Z was raised on. Being sorted into groups is reminiscent of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series.

“Can you imagine not being in Group 7,” one user commented on TikTok.

Brands were also quick to chime in.

“I heard group 7 has really great skin,” skincare brand Aveeno wrote.

“I am so happy to be here,” Oreo commented on the original video before posting their own version.

So what was it about the Group 7 video, which used the same song by James called So Unfair, that pushed it so much further than the first six?

The group 1 video was of James with a parking ticket, group two was a short clip of her talking about her battle with the algorithm.

Group three was a spoof unboxing type video where James opened her parking fine to reveal how much she would need to pay.

Groups four and five were of James lip-syncing along to So Unfair with text on the screen revealing the group number.

And finally, group six sees her cross legged on the floor staring into the camera completely still while the music plays.

It seems the answer is to what does it mean if you made it into Group 7 is the same as usual when it comes to the vagaries of the internet... no one knows!