Group 7 on TikTok Actually Started as an Experiment to Beat the Algorithm

If you’ve been scrolling on TikTok and noticed users boasting about being in Group 7, calling on other Group 7 members to unite, or joking about how it’s the best group to be in, you probably have no idea what’s going on. And honestly, how could you if you didn’t see the original video that started the trend?

Despite how big of a deal it sounds, Group 7 isn’t some secret club where you need a password or special connection to get in. Simply put, if musician Sophia James’s video with the caption “Group 7 who are you” popped up on your feed and you keep seeing similar videos mentioning Group 7, then you might be part of Group 7 too. So, what does that actually mean? Let’s get into it.

The whole Group 7 thing going viral on TikTok doesn’t refer to some elite group of people. Instead, it simply means that those seeing Group 7 content all have one thing in common — singer Sophie James’s seventh video in a seven-part lineup ended up on your feed (or other content featuring Group 7 conversation).

And since that video blew up, TikTok is doing what it does best and pushing it out even more. So, it’s not an actual group of people and doesn’t have any real meaning, but because video number 7 is getting the most attention, people have since labeled it as Group 7 and are now joking that it’s better than videos 4,5, and 6, aka Groups 4, 5, and 6.

Sophie decided she’d had enough of TikTok’s constantly changing algorithm that sometimes makes you feel like you’re beating it and other times leaves you feeling completely defeated. So, on Oct. 17, 2025, she posted seven consecutive videos, noting in the second one, “It always has been and always will be me versus the algorithm, and today I’ve decided that I am winning.”

Before this seven-video experiment, Sophie’s videos typically generated between 2,000 and 5,000 views, with a few bigger ones sprinkled in, including one with 55,000 views and another with over 127,000. To challenge the algorithm, she used the same song (one of her own) in all seven videos. The first post showed her opening a parking ticket, and the rest featured her doing something (or nothing) while numbering each post until she reached lucky number seven.

As the posts went on, the views started climbing, but the seventh video skyrocketed, hitting over 4 million views and becoming her most-watched TikTok to date. Naturally, TikTok picked up on that momentum and pushed the video even more, which is how “Group 7” was born.

Since her other posts, like 5 and 6, now being called Group 5 and Group 6, didn’t get nearly as much attention, people started joking that Group 7 is the best and the others are just mediocre.