The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: What is Group 7?

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It's so-called spooky season, and there's nothing more frightening than realizing how out of touch you've become, so allow me to throw you a lifeline with an explainer on the week's trending topics with the youths. This week, everyone is talking about their membership in a completely arbitrary online group, planning Halloween costumes that few people over 30 will understand, and trying on "historically accurate" clothing from 2005.

What is "Group 7" on TikTok?

Everyone on TikTok this week is posting about "Group 7." Here's what's up: On October 17, 26-year-old singer Sophia James did a little social experiment to promote her new single, "So Unfair." She posted seven videos featuring the song to see which would gain the most traction and reach. The seventh went viral, to the tune of over 75 million plays. And then it took on a life of its own, with over 600,000 videos ultimately being posted under the Group 7 tag.

In the original G7 video, James says, "I don't know what that says about you. But, you're in Group 7." People started defining what membership in Group 7 means to them—even though it’s random—and listing the qualities that Group 7 members supposedly possess. According to this video, members of Group 7 are loving, "we laugh, we share, we watch videos all the way through."

While many TikTokers are taking their membership in Group 7 as a joke, a growing (and sort of sad) part of Group 7 seems convinced that it's important. That they've been chosen. The longing for a sense of belonging is palpable. There's also the idea that if all the members of the group follow each other, it would mean "never having to get a normal job."

But it won't. "Follow-chains" are not new on the internet, and they don't work. What's really going to happen is that the algorithm will eventually decide people are sick of their feeds being full of Group 7 videos and curb their spread. In a few weeks, everyone will say, "Remember that weird 'Group 7' thing?" This is the inevitable life-cycle of internet memes.

HBO Max adds "six seven" category

Speaking of arbitrary number-based memes, brain-rot slang word of the year "6-7" continues to grow and spread in unexpected ways, including on streaming platform HBO Max, which has added a "Six Seveeeeen" movie category on its service.

The phrase doesn't mean anything, making a "6-7" film difficult to define, so Max decided to take the easy route by including movies with "six" or "seven" in their titles. Films in the collection include expected entries like The Sixth Sense, Seven, and the sixth and seventh Harry Potter movies (Six Days Seven Nights unfortunately isn't available on HBO Max, and also, you probably forgot it existed anyway). Low-hanging fruit aside, there are also some inspired choices, like Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai and Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Like all "how do you do, fellow kids" attempts at co-opting youth slang, HBO's stunt is annoying and tone-deaf, and maybe a signal that the whole six-seven thing is ending at last, but I do love the idea that some brain-rotted kid out there is going to watch The Seventh Seal and really relate to the soldier's chess match against Death.

Meme-based costumes to watch for on Halloween

Even before the internet, Halloween was a meme holiday, with costumes of pop culture figures topping the sales charts at Spencer's Gifts every year. But it's gotten ridiculous in 2025. Look for every other kid ringing your doorbell this year to be wearing an outfit inspired by a popular online trend and for ghosts and Draculas to be as rare as Loch Ness monster sightings.

Here are some of costumes-based-on-memes that are likely to be popular this Halloween:

Labubu

Dressing up as one of these trendy toys is a no-brainer, although the effort involved in doing it right is considerable. Luckily, there are tons of tutorials online like the one linked above.

Lorax girl

If you're wondering why so many young women are dressing up as the main character from 2012 movie The Lorax, it's a whole thing. The costume has grown so popular over the last few years that there's a legit backlash against it.

KPop Demon Hunters

The flashy outfits from Netflix's amazingly successful animated movie are a perfect fit for Halloween, but are likely to result in the most "what are you supposed to be" responses from older people.

Chicken Jockey

Like the game that inspired it, The Minecraft Movie remains very popular with young people, so look for representations of the iconic "Chicken Jockey!" scene in costume form on Oct. 31. If you want to do it right, you have to make it yourself, but you can buy a Minecraft Chicken Jockey outfit from Walmart if you want to save time.

Inflatable protest frog

Portland's Ice protests have given rise to an underground, viral hero: protest frog, so look for imitators rocking the iconic costume on Halloween. It's a good choice for the lazy in that it makes a statement without any effort. You can just buy an inflatable frog costume on Amazon.

Viral video of the week: "trying on low rise jeans"

Warning: this week's viral video will probably make you feel ancient. In it, young TikTok user @vintageprincessxoxo tries on "historically accurate low-rise jeans." She's clearly surprised by how low low-rise jeans actually are, but as many older folks have pointed out in the comments, the "historically accurate" pair she's trying on aren't even all that low. "Darling those are high rise with the double buttons," a user points out. The comment section is filled with similar cross-generational educational outreach, with millennial mentors cluing the youngster in about whale-tails and the importance of wearing a belt. ("Historically accurate," though? Ouch.)

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