To begin this post, we have to start with the concept of “hooks.” If you’ve ever engaged on TikTok with any content related to increasing your reach on that platform, then you have also probably had additional content make its way into your FYP explaining the concept of hooks. To the point where either your algorithm is flooded with it, or you’ve spent some time reconfiguring that algorithm to filter it out. If you find yourself saying, “I don’t do TikTok,” or “WTH is FYP,” then here’s the quick and dirty: the hook of your video is what you’re presenting to an audience within the first two seconds, intended to compel the viewer to stop swiping, sit, and watch the whole thing. Some obsess over this algorithmic element similarly to the way some obsess over “cracking the code” on Spotify. What I find particularly fascinating, is that many videos taking on this approach, on average, are targeted to be 8 to 15 seconds long in their entirety. The basis for the importance of a hook is that the stronger the hook, the stronger the chance a video has to go viral. The concept reminds of a lyric in the song “Hooks” by The Blackburns: “If you got no hooks, then I got no time.”
I’ve seen various ways people go about laying out a hook. The ol’ “rage bait” seems to be a go to for so many. Truth be told, I used that in the title of this post. Why indeed haven’t I made a post about Group 7? What am I waiting for? Do I have something negative to say about the trend? Maybe there’s an underlying compelling or scary reason not to. Sorry, it’s all smoke and mirrors, because first of all, this IS a post about Group 7 (albeit, in long form but still hypocrisy) and two, I don’t really have any strong reasons why I haven’t up to now. Just haven’t felt like it. At this point I’ve potentially lost any TikTok readers. What a letdown. Swipe away. Maybe if you’re still reading this you might be saying, “what on earth are you talking about, what is all this?” Fantastic. That’s actually where it all starts.
An artist named Sophia James did as every artist does on TikTok, she posted content using her music in the background. She tried an experiment recently in which she let the camera roll and said, “if you’re seeing this, you’re in group 1.” Then a second for group 2, a third, and so on. What’s significant about 7? Well, 7 is the one that popped off and went viral.
Sounds wildly simple, right? So why did this group 7 become a thing? Well, regardless of whatever individual outlying reasons exist, generally speaking, people who saw the group 7 post embraced the identity and ran with it. Posts that began with “IDK why or how I’m in group 7” eventually turned into “Group 7 is the best and we’re awesome, right guys!?” This guy probably does more justice in explaining the origin story:
Before you knew it, videos were flooding in about “get on this trend Group 7, we’re all following and supporting each other! I just gained ___ amount of followers yesterday!” Which obviously just motivated more people to post and get in on it. The trend is still ongoing as of the time I’m writing this at “break the matrix” described virality:
As mentioned, I think everyone’s first reaction is to go, “ok I’m group 7, so what does that mean?” And posts like that only push the trend farther. And as everyone has been trying to capitalize on the fruits of the trend in one way or another, the algorithmic realities are obviously are going to vary for a number of reasons. Which then gets people to post about how it doesn’t work as good as people swear it does. And then guess what, those posts continue feeding the beast. Hashtags #group7 and #g7 are being used to mobilize communities online as we speak. I came across a reel today talking about how “we” are in phase two now, with calls to action, and thus the cycle repeats because again, here I am kinda confused about what phase one even was.
What I’m not confused about (and there’s certainly more that I am confused about than not with this one) is that the song Sophia James used to springboard the Group 7 trend, “It’s So Unfair,” is very good. Like, a wow good Pop song. The song itself is a hook. Everything surrounding this phenomenon had me thinking it was a mainstream thing. But at 258k monthly listeners on Spotify and 17k views on the YouTube (after looking a little deeper into the song) it had me pondering, “wait a second, is this independent?” And if so, truth be told, that does sweeten the pot for me a bit because big labels with management teams and money manufacturing trends is not something new, that’s kinda just what they do. But if she’s independent, and pulled off a guerrilla marketing campaign like that? I think that’s badass. The hundreds of thousands of people posting group 7 videos and often times using James’ song in the clip has to be a significant bump in making her music available to a wider audience and that’s great, because the song is super catchy and certainly deserves a listen.
Here I am being mid and using “rage bait” in the title of my post. Not even giving you some kind of edgy hot take to debate about. For shame. Turns out all I was doing was saying I’m happy for someone else on the internet. That oughta piss some people off. Wait a second …did I just do a good one? I’ll quote The Blackburns again to top it all off: “that’s a strange way to make a living.”
Sophia James
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