The internet is a conglomerate of ideas and groups of people assorted by their algorithms. Algorithms have now excessed human understanding, a realization that becomes all the more terrifying when the connection is made that we are all subject to it every day. For something to become popular on the internet in the modern era, it must overcome these algorithms and ingrain itself in every niche and corner of media. Which is why it is all the more strange that the most recent thing to best the algorithm is 67.
67 was a number that once lodged itself in the minds of young people across the US as a humorous phrase that could fit itself in any meaning or context. Originating as a lyric in a Skrilla song entitled “Doot Doot,” the number began humbly as a small joke amongst the online basketball community. Fans used the song to create video edits (highly edited videos meant to highlight a player’s skills), most commonly for the player LaMelo Ball. The number would shed this meaning and take to new heights when a blond white fluffy haired kid (who would be dubbed the ‘67 kid’) said “67” and waved his hands around with his yellow teeth exposed to the world. This young man’s embarrassing behavior would become the catalyst for an evolution in 67 where the number would now be heralded as a testament to the humor and culture of today. Of course not everyone found humor in such a thing but when older, uninitiated people would try to understand 67, their interpretations often led to results that most younger people found quite funny. As an example teachers asked their students what the meaning of the number was to which students would be left to laugh at the foolishness of the teacher. These people who were supposed to be the superiors of the students could not comprehend the idea that something so well known and widespread could just amount to nothing, and students found humor in their stumbling about trying to find meaning where there was none. After the number’s popularity exploded, it became ironic to use the term; people no longer said it to be funny, but instead to mock the idea of 67.
During its rise in popularity with the song by Skrilla also seeing a big rise in popularity that can be seen even near the end of October, the number would find fierce competition with the number 41. 41 was popularized by rapper Pluggnb on Tiktok where he made a song continually using the number 41 which was his age at the time in his rhyme scheme. The song played on the idea of the rapper’s age which was masterfully capitalized on by Pluggnb in his original post which had the caption “Did unc snap,” playfully using his age and the term ‘unc’ to appeal to a younger demographic. The song was so terrible and caption so iconic that it sought to become the new 67; something that it arguably at one point would achieve. 41 would not have the same lifespan as 67 however as it didn’t last for more than a few weeks and the rapper Pluggnb would not see any more success following the song.
As soon as it became October the number 67 would be completely and utterly shameful to use and it would enter its post ironic stage. In this stage nobody thought it was funny to say anymore. This would not be the end of 67 however because people didn’t want to let go of the joke. Just days later the number would enter a post post ironic stage where it was now ‘funny’ again to say 67 as a form of self deprecating humor. To take this evolution even further, scholars believe the number could be entering a hypothetical stage of being considered both funny and unfunny with stark contrast between those who find in the opinions of those on either side.
The polarization of 67 can be observed by asking students for their honest opinions on usage of the number. One particularly negative respondee, Yati Patel, was very passionate when she commented: “I don’t think 67 is funny and it’s weird.” The very keen Dane Lysaught contrasted Yati’s statement when he announced “67” very loudly in the McDonalds where he was interviewed before waving his hands around, crudely imitating the infamous hand motion associated with the number.
As seen with 41, people are in a flurry to try to coin the next big thing on the internet, a hunt that is ultimately fruitless as the search only leads to the churning out of slop humor. Things are changing rapidly across the algorithms of people on TikTok and Instagram Reels as new phrases and jokes are being popularized every day with the time between each joke becoming shorter and shorter. 67 appears to now be on its deathbed and is gradually leaving the headspace of the world, but its effects will still be felt as it’s influence on internet humor and culture will only increase as time goes on.
