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{{Short description|Form of sudden public performance}}
{{Redirect|Flashmob|the Vitalic album|Flashmob (album)}}
{{About|the social activity}}
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] in downtown ], are designed to surprise passers-by.]]
A '''flash mob''' (or '''flashmob''')<ref>{{Cite journal | date = 9 February 2009 | journal = ] | title = Facebook flashmob shuts down station | url = http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/09/uk.station.flashmob/index.html}}</ref> is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a ], perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_3876000/3876685.stm|title=Va-va-voom is in the dictionary |publisher=]|date=8 July 2004|accessdate=2010-05-05}}</ref><ref name="COED" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14509831|title=Mixed feelings over Philadelphia's flash-mob curfew|publisher=]|date=12 August 2011}}</ref> Flash mobs are organized via ], ], or ]s.<ref name="wallstreet" /><ref name="nationalpost" /><ref name="fibre" /><ref>Carey, James. Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society (New York: Unwin Hyman, 1989).</ref><ref name="abc" /><ref name="cnn3">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/|title='Flash mob' craze spreads|author=Sandra Shmueli|publisher=]|date=Friday, August 8, 2003}}</ref>


A '''flash mob''' (or '''flashmob''')<ref>{{Cite news | date = February 9, 2009 | publisher = ] | title = Facebook flashmob shuts down station | url = http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/09/uk.station.flashmob/index.html}}</ref> is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_3876000/3876685.stm|title=Va-va-voom is in the dictionary |publisher=BBC|date=July 8, 2004|access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref><ref name="COED">{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0972977#m_en_gb0972977|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510024647/http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0972977#m_en_gb0972977|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 10, 2011|title=definition of flash mob from Oxford English Dictionaries Online|publisher=]|date=July 8, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14509831|title=Mixed feelings over Philadelphia's flash-mob curfew|publisher=BBC|date=August 12, 2011}}</ref> Flash mobs may be organized via ], ], or ]s.<ref name="wallstreet">{{cite web|url=http://s.wsj.net/article/SB120814163599712081.html|title=Students Unleash A Pillow Fight On Manhattan|work=Wall Street Journal|last=Athavaley|first=Anjali|date=April 15, 2008|access-date=May 19, 2008|archive-date=January 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111210331/http://s.wsj.net/article/SB120814163599712081.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nationalpost">{{cite news|url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/03/21/let-the-feathers-fly.aspx |last=Fitzgerald |first=Sean D. |title=International Pillow Fight Day: Let the feathers fly! |work=National Post |location=Canada |date=March 21, 2008 |access-date=May 19, 2008 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="fibre" /><ref name="abc">{{cite news|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4758736&page=1|title=Time Freezes in Central London|work=]|date=April 30, 2008 |access-date=January 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="cnn3">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/|title='Flash mob' craze spreads|author=Sandra Shmueli|publisher=CNN|date=August 8, 2003}}</ref>
It is worth noting that the key factors that distinguish a flash-mob and any other performance in a public place are:
1. Organisation: Flash-mobs are open social organisations, usually mobilised in virtual circles or through social networking. A performance is usually coordinated and led in a closed group, who practice together to achieve synchronisation in advance of the performance.
2. Participation: As the name indicates, a flash-mob must both be open to, and involve, members of the common public, whilst a performance may be merely limited to a specific practised group participation.
3. Motive: The motive for participation in a flash-mob is much similar to the motive behind authoring an article on Misplaced Pages. The participants are primarily motived to collaborate and co-create, without deriving any firm benefits, monetary or otherwise, from it. A performance on the other hand is carried out with foreseeable benefits in mind, ranging from recognition to monetary incentives.


The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as ]), ], ] that involve ] firms, or paid professionals.<ref name="fibre" /><ref name="manifesto">{{cite web|url=http://aglomerarispontane.weblog.ro/2004-12-05/20168/Manifestul-Aglomerarilor-Spontane---A-Flashmob-Manifesto.html|title=Manifestul Aglomerarilor Spontane / A Flashmob Manifesto|date=December 5, 2004|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071012195306/http://aglomerarispontane.weblog.ro/2004-12-05/20168/Manifestul-Aglomerarilor-Spontane---A-Flashmob-Manifesto.html|archivedate=October 12, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/911773--failed-choral-flash-mob-may-not-have-qualified-for-term|title=Failed choral 'flash mob' may not have qualified for term|publisher=]|author= Ed Fletcher|date=23 December 2010|accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref> In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term ]s is often applied instead. The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), ], ] that involve ] firms, or paid professionals.<ref name="fibre" /><ref name="manifesto">{{cite web|url=http://aglomerarispontane.weblog.ro/2004-12-05/20168/Manifestul-Aglomerarilor-Spontane---A-Flashmob-Manifesto.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209041136/http://aglomerarispontane.weblog.ro/2004-12-05/20168/Manifestul-Aglomerarilor-Spontane---A-Flashmob-Manifesto.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2007|title=Manifestul Aglomerarilor Spontane / A Flashmob Manifesto|date=December 5, 2004|access-date=December 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/911773--failed-choral-flash-mob-may-not-have-qualified-for-term|title=Failed choral 'flash mob' may not have qualified for term|work=Toronto Star|author= Ed Fletcher|date=December 23, 2010|access-date=December 30, 2010}}</ref> In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term ]s is often applied instead.


The term "]" or "flash mob robberies", a reference to the way flash mobs assemble, has been used to describe a number of robberies and assaults perpetrated suddenly by groups of teenage youth.<ref name="FOXN1">{{cite news | url = https://www.foxnews.com/us/teenage-flash-mob-robberies-on-the-rise/ | title = Teenage Flash Mob Robberies on the Rise | author = Annie Vaughan | date = June 18, 2011 | publisher = ] | access-date = June 18, 2014 }}</ref><ref name="TIME3">{{cite magazine | url = https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/12/flash-mobs-turned-criminal-the-rise-of-flash-robberies/ | title = Flash Mobs Turned Criminal: The Rise of Flash Robberies | author = Erin Skarda | date = May 12, 2011 | magazine = ] | access-date = June 18, 2014}}</ref><ref name="WIRED1">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2011/11/flash-robs/ | title = 'Flash Robs': Trying to Stop a Meme Gone Wrong | author = Bill Wasik | magazine = ] | date = November 11, 2011 | access-date = June 19, 2014}}</ref> ], originator of the first flash mobs, and a number of other commentators have questioned or objected to the usage of "flash mob" to describe criminal acts.<ref name="WIRED1" /><ref name="HUFFPO1">{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/illinois-rifle-associatio_n_872644.html | title='Flash Mob' Attacks Used By Gun Rights Advocates To Build Concealed Carry Support | work=] | date=August 8, 2011 | access-date=June 17, 2014}}</ref> Flash mob has also been featured in some Hollywood movie series, such as '']''.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Step Up Revolution' Director, Choreographers Talk Flash Mob Attraction and Former Martial Artist Ryan Guzman's Debut|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/step-up-revolution-kathryn-mccormick-ryan-guzman-355033|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=July 26, 2012|language=en|access-date=May 25, 2020}}</ref>
==Origins==

==History==
===First flash mob=== ===First flash mob===
], ].]]
One of the first flash mobs was created in ] in May 2003, by ], senior editor of '']''.<ref name="fibre" /><ref name="cnn3" /> The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather.<ref name="time">{{cite journal | first = Lauren | last = Goldstein | title = The Mob Rules | date = 10 August 2003 | journal = ] (18 April 2003 issue) | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,474547,00.html | accessdate = 2007-03-14 | volume = 162 | issue = 7 | issn = 0040-781X | oclc = 1767509 }}</ref> Wasik avoided such problems during the second flash mob, which occurred on June 3, 2003, at ] department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas&nbsp;– in four prearranged Manhattan bars&nbsp;– where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.<ref name="Wasik">{{cite journal | first = Bill | last = Wasik | title = My Crowd, or, Phase 5: A report from the inventor of the flash mob | url = http://www.harpers.org/media/pages/2006/03/pdf/HarpersMagazine-2006-03-0080963.pdf | format = Subscription | journal = ] | pages = 56&ndash;66 | month = March | year = 2006 | accessdate = 2007-02-02 | issn = 0017-789X | oclc = 4532730 }}</ref>


The first flash mobs were created in ] in 2003, by ], senior editor of '']''.<ref name="fibre" /><ref name="cnn3" /><ref name="Wasik2">{{cite magazine | first = Bill | last = Wasik | title = #Riot: Self-Organized, Hyper-Networked Revolts—Coming to a City Near You | url = https://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_riots/all/1 | magazine = ] |date=January 2012 | access-date =January 22, 2012 }}</ref> The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine | first = Lauren | last = Goldstein | title = The Mob Rules | date = August 10, 2003 | magazine = Time | url =https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,474547,00.html| access-date =May 8, 2021 | volume = 162 | issue = 7 - April 18, 2003 | issn = 0040-781X | oclc = 1767509 }}</ref> Wasik avoided such problems during the first successful flash mob, which occurred on June 17, 2003, at ] department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.<ref name="Wasik">{{cite magazine | first = Bill | last = Wasik | title = My Crowd, or, Phase 5: A report from the inventor of the flash mob | url = http://harpers.org/archive/2006/03/my-crowd/1/ | format = Subscription | magazine = ] | pages = 56–66 |date=March 2006 | volume = March 2006 | access-date =February 2, 2007 | issn = 0017-789X | oclc = 4532730 }}</ref>
More than 130 people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a "love rug", and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group.<ref>Bedell, Doug. "E-mail Communication Facilitates New 'Flash Mob' Phenomenon", Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, 23 July (2003)</ref> Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the ] hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in ] was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.<ref name="cnn3" />


More than 130 people converged upon the ninth-floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a "love rug", and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group.<ref>Bedell, Doug. "E-mail Communication Facilitates New 'Flash Mob' Phenomenon", Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, July 23, (2003)</ref> Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the ] hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in ] was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.<ref name="cnn3" />
Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at ] and to highlight the cultural atmosphere of ] and of wanting to be an insider or part of "the next big thing".<ref name="cnn3" /> '']'' wrote, "It may have backfired on him&nbsp;... may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming."<ref name="VCS">{{cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f4b1b51f-1340-46b3-8c14-97405c63b5fe|title=Waterfight in Stanley Park, but are flash mobs starting to lose their edge?|publisher=]|last=McMartin|first=Pete|date= July 12, 2008|accessdate=2008-07-14}}</ref> In another interview he said "the mobs started as a kind of playful social experiment meant to encourage spontaneity and big gatherings to temporarily take over commercial and public areas simply to show that they could".<ref name="FMR" />

Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a ] designed to poke fun at ] and to highlight the cultural atmosphere of ] and of wanting to be an insider or part of "the next big thing".<ref name="cnn3" /> '']'' wrote, "It may have backfired on him&nbsp;... may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming."<ref name="VCS">{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f4b1b51f-1340-46b3-8c14-97405c63b5fe |title=Waterfight in Stanley Park, but are flash mobs starting to lose their edge? |publisher=] |last=McMartin |first=Pete |date=July 12, 2008 |access-date=July 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714033940/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f4b1b51f-1340-46b3-8c14-97405c63b5fe |archive-date=July 14, 2008 }}</ref> In another interview he said "the mobs started as a kind of playful social experiment meant to encourage spontaneity and big gatherings to temporarily take over commercial and public areas simply to show that they could".<ref name="FMR">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html|title=Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message|author=Ian Urbina|date=March 24, 2010|work=]| access-date=December 30, 2010}}</ref>


===Precedents and precursors=== ===Precedents and precursors===
In 19th-century ], the term ''flash mob'' was used to describe a subculture consisting of female prisoners, based on the term ''flash language'' for the jargon that these women used. The 19th-century Australian term ''flash mob'' referred to a segment of society, not an event, and showed no other similarities to the modern term ''flash mob'' or the events it describes.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Flash Mob | url = http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash | work = Cascades Female Factory Historic Site | publisher = Female Factory Historic Site Ltd. | accessdate = 2007-10-23 }}</ref> In 19th-century ], the term ''flash mob'' was used to describe a subculture consisting of female prisoners, based on the term ''flash language'' for the jargon that these women used. The 19th-century Australian term ''flash mob'' referred to a segment of society, not an event, and showed no other similarities to the modern term ''flash mob'' or the events it describes.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Flash Mob | url = http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash | work = Cascades Female Factory Historic Site | publisher = Female Factory Historic Site Ltd. | access-date = October 23, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071006203135/http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash | archive-date = October 6, 2007 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>


In 1973, the story "]" by ] described a concept similar to flash mobs.<ref>Nold, Christian (2003). . p. 23.</ref> With the invention of popular and very inexpensive ], an argument at a shopping mall—which happens to be covered by a news crew—quickly swells into a riot. In the story, broadcast coverage attracts the attention of other people, who use the widely available technology of the teleportation booth to swarm first that event—thus intensifying the riot—and then other events as they happen. Commenting on the social impact of such mobs, one character (articulating the police view) says, "We call them flash crowds, and we watch for them." In related short stories, they are named as a prime location for illegal activities (such as pickpocketing and looting) to take place. ] suggests that the story title is a source of the term "flash mob".<ref>], (June 13, 2012). . ''Time''.</ref>
An early literary example can be found in a famous German novel for children by ]. At the end of ] (1929) the protagonist captures a thief by organizing a large crowd of children through a kind of self-organized intelligence service. The mob of children first drives the thief into a corner and then keeps him from escaping.


], ] (2015)]]
In 1973, the story "]" by ] described a concept similar to flash mobs.<ref>Nold, Christian. "Legible Mob" (2003): p.23. http://www.softhook.com/legible.htm.</ref> With the invention of popular and very inexpensive ], an argument at a shopping mall—which happens to be covered by a news crew—quickly swells into a riot. In the story, broadcast coverage attracts the attention of other people, who use the widely available technology of the teleportation booth to swarm first that event—thus intensifying the riot—and then other events as they happen. Commenting on the social impact of such mobs, one character (articulating the police view) says, "We call them flash crowds, and we watch for them." In related short stories, they are named as a prime location for illegal activities (such as pickpocketing and looting) to take place.
Flash mobs began as a form of ].<ref name="time" /> While they started as an apolitical act, flash mobs may share superficial similarities to political ]. In the 1960s, groups such as the Yippies used street theatre to expose the public to political issues.<ref>Cosmic Trigger III, Robert Anton Wilson, 1995, New Falcon Publications</ref> Flash mobs can be seen as a specialized form of ],<ref name="fibre">{{cite news|url=http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue6/issue6_nicholson.html|author=Judith A. Nicholson|title=Flash! Mobs in the Age of Mobile Connectivity|publisher=Fibreculture Publications/Open Humanities Press|access-date=July 15, 2009|archive-date=December 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202045638/http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue6/issue6_nicholson.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> a term and concept proposed by author ] in his 2002 book '']''.<ref name="cnn2">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/03/timep.smart.mobs.tm/| title=Day of the smart mobs|author=Chris Taylor|date=March 3, 2003|publisher=CNN}}</ref>

Flash mobs began as a form of ].<ref name="time" /> While they started as an apolitical act, flash mobs may share superficial similarities to political ]. Flash mobs can be seen as a specialized form of ],<ref name="fibre">{{cite news| url= http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue6/issue6_nicholson.html| author=Judith A. Nicholson|title=Flash! Mobs in the Age of Mobile Connectivity|publisher=Fibreculture Publications/Open Humanities Press|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref> a term and concept proposed by author ] in his 2002 book '']''.<ref name="cnn2">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/03/timep.smart.mobs.tm/| title=Day of the smart mobs|author=Chris Taylor|date=Monday, March 3, 2003|publisher=]}}</ref>


==Use of the term== ==Use of the term==
The first documented use of the term ''flash mob'' as it is understood today was in 2003 in a ] entry posted in the aftermath of Wasik's event.<ref name="Wasik"/><ref name=wordspy /><ref name="cheesebikini">{{cite web | url = http://www.cheesebikini.com/2003/06/16/flash-mobs-take-manhattan/ | title = Flash Mobs Take Manhattan | author = Savage, Sean | date = 16 June 2003 | accessdate = 2007-03-14 | work = cheesebikini }}</ref> The term was inspired by the earlier term '']''.<ref name=wordspy >{{cite web | url = http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp | title = flash mob | first = Paul | last = McFedries | authorlink = Paul McFedries | publisher = Logophilia Limited | work = WordSpy.com | date = 14 July 2003 | accessdate = 2006-03-14 }}</ref> The first documented use of the term ''flash mob'' as it is understood today was in 2003 in a blog entry posted in the aftermath of Wasik's event.<ref name="Wasik2" /><ref name="Wasik"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://observer.com/2014/06/the-new-york-times-magazine-names-bill-wasik-deputy-editor/|title=The New York Times Magazine Names Bill Wasik Deputy Editor|newspaper=]|date=June 10, 2014|author=Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke|access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref> The term was inspired by the earlier term ''smart mob''.<ref name=wordspy >{{cite web | url = http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp | title = flash mob | first = Paul | last = McFedries | author-link = Paul McFedries | publisher = Logophilia Limited | work = WordSpy.com | date = July 14, 2003 | access-date = March 14, 2006 | archive-date = March 15, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060315154645/http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp | url-status = dead }}</ref>


Flash mob was added to the 11th edition of the ] on 8 July 2004 where it noted it as an "unusual and pointless act" separating it from other forms of smart mobs such as types of performance, protests, and other gatherings.<ref name="COED">{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0972977#m_en_gb0972977|title=defintion of flash mob from Oxford English Dictionaries Online|publisher=]|date=8 July 2004|accessdate=2010-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3876017.stm|title=Henry inspires English dictionary|publisher=]|date=8 July 2004|accessdate=2010-05-09}}</ref> Also recognized noun derivatives are flash mobber and flash mobbing.<ref name="COED" /> '']'' defines ''flash mob'' as "a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia Flash mob was added to the 11th edition of the '']'' on July 8, 2004, where it noted it as an "unusual and pointless act" separating it from other forms of smart mobs such as types of performance, protests, and other gatherings.<ref name="COED"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3876017.stm|title=Henry inspires English dictionary|publisher=BBC|date=July 8, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2010}}</ref> Also recognized noun derivatives are flash mobber and flash mobbing.<ref name="COED"/> '']'' defines ''flash mob'' as "a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6) | title = flash mob | url = http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flash%20mob | access-date =April 27, 2007
}}</ref> This definition is consistent with the original use of the term; however, both news media and promoters have subsequently used the term to refer to any form of smart mob, including political protests;<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3496030.stm | title = Putin protest by flash mob |work=BBC News | date = February 28, 2004 | access-date =May 3, 2007 }}</ref> a collaborative Internet ] attack;<ref>{{cite news | first = Steven | last = Musil | title = This week in Web threats: The Internet is always good for a little fear and loathing | url = http://news.cnet.com/This+week+in+Web+threats/2100-7349_3-5572700.html | work = CNET News | publisher = ] | date = February 11, 2005 | access-date =May 3, 2007 }}</ref> a collaborative ] demonstration;<ref>{{cite news | first = Celeste | last = Biever | title = A Flash mob to attempt supercomputing feat | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4826 | work = ] | issn=0262-4079|oclc= 2378350 | date = March 29, 2004}}</ref> and promotional appearances by pop musicians.<ref>{{cite news | first = Elysa | last = Gardner | title = Avril Lavigne, in the flesh, at 'flash mob' appearances | url = http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2004/02/27/384917?extID=10051 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014144701/http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2004/02/27/384917?extID=10051 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |work=] | date = February 27, 2004 | access-date =September 22, 2021}}</ref> The press has also used the term ''flash mob'' to refer to a practice in China where groups of shoppers arrange online to meet at a store in order to drive a collective bargain.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/ChinasNewShoppingCrazeTeamBuying.aspx | title = China's new shopping craze: 'Team buying' | work = Christian Science Monitor | date = December 5, 2007 | access-date = February 12, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110714123816/http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/ChinasNewShoppingCrazeTeamBuying.aspx | archive-date = July 14, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
| encyclopedia = Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6)
| title = flash mob
| url = http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flash%20mob
| accessdate = 2007-04-27
}}</ref> This definition is consistent with the original use of the term; however, both news media and promoters have subsequently used the term to refer to any form of smart mob, including political protests;<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3496030.stm | title = Putin protest by flash mob | work = ] | date = 28 February 2004 | accessdate = 2007-05-03 }}</ref> a collaborative Internet ] attack;<ref>{{cite news | first = Steven | last = Musil | title = This week in Web threats: The Internet is always good for a little fear and loathing | url = http://news.com.com/This+week+in+Web+threats/2100-7349_3-5572700.html | work = CNET News | publisher = ] | date = 11 February 2005 | accessdate = 2007-05-03 }}</ref> a collaborative ] demonstration;<ref>{{cite news | first = Celeste | last = Biever | title = A Flash mob to attempt supercomputing feat | url = http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4826 | work = ] | id = ] {{ISSN search link|0262-4079}} {{oclc|2378350}} | date = 29 March 2004}}</ref> and promotional appearances by pop musicians.<ref>{{cite news | first = Elysa | last = Gardner | title = Avril Lavigne, in the flesh, at 'flash mob' appearances | url = http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2004/02/27/384917?extID=10051 | work = ] | date = 27 February 2004 | accessdate = 2007-05-03 }}</ref> The press has also used the term ''flash mob'' to refer to a practice in China where groups of shoppers arrange online to meet at a store in order to drive a collective bargain.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/ChinasNewShoppingCrazeTeamBuying.aspx | title = China's new shopping craze: 'Team buying' | work = Christian Science Monitor | date = 5 December 2007 | accessdate = 2008-02-12 }}</ref>


==Notable flash mobs== == Legality ==
The city of ] (Brunswick), Germany, has stopped flash mobs by strictly enforcing the already existing law of requiring a permit to use any public space for an event.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090728-20875.html|title=Flash mobs banned in Braunschweig|date=July 28, 2009 | publisher=The Local Europe|access-date=December 30, 2010}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, a number of flash mobs have been stopped over concerns for public health and safety.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2008/05/19/videos-police-step-in-to-prevent-facebook-flash-mob-events-115875-20423056/|title=Videos: Police step in to prevent Facebook flash mob events|author=Robert Leigh|work=Daily Mirror |date=May 19, 2008|access-date=December 30, 2010}}</ref> The ] have urged flash mob organizers to "refrain from holding such events at railway stations".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7913034.stm|title=Rail police criticise flash mobs|work=BBC News| date=February 26, 2009|access-date=December 30, 2010}}</ref>
<!-- Please note the definition above of flash mobs, particularly "pointless act" and "disperse quickly", before adding any internationally lasting events. See WP:NOTNEWS and WP:RECENTISM -->


===Silent disco=== ==Crime==
{{main|Flash rob}}
Another example of a well known flash mob was the April 2006 ] in London. At various ] stations, people gathered with their portable music devices, and at a set time began dancing to their music.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/life/story.html?id=31d5d74c-b67a-4114-9b95-a7b06fc226aa&p=1|title='Silent raves' the next wave|publisher=Canwest Publishing Inc|date=Monday, April 28, 2008|accessdate=2009-01-25}}</ref> It was reported that more than 4,000 people participated at ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-4-12/69052.html|title=Pillow Fighters Transform London into 'Urban Playground'|publisher=Epoch Times|date=April 12, 2008|accessdate=2009-01-25}}</ref> This had an impact on the regular service of the system enough for the city's police to begin crowd control and slowly clear people.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3638997/Dancing-to-the-music-of-a-virtual-world.html|title=Dancing to the music of a virtual world|publisher=The Telegraph UK|date=1 January 2009|accessdate=2009-01-25 | location=London | first=Sam | last=Leith}}</ref> Since 2006, there have been several flash mobs in the London Underground, including subsequent silent discos comparable in size.<ref name="abc">{{cite news|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4758736&page=1|title=Time Freezes in Central London|publisher=]|date=April 30, 2008 |accessdate=2009-01-25}}</ref>
Referred to as ''flash robs'', ''flash mob robberies'', or ''flash robberies'' by the media, crimes organized by teenage youth using social media rose to international notoriety beginning in 2011.<ref name="FOXN1" /><ref name="TIME3" /><ref name="WIRED1" /><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.citylab.com/crime/2011/09/violent-flash-mobs-trend/143/ | title = Are Violent 'Flash Mobs' Really a Trend? | author = Daniel Denvir | date = September 26, 2011 | publisher = CityLab | access-date = June 18, 2014}}</ref> The ] does not classify these crimes as "flash mobs" but rather "multiple offender crimes" that utilize "flash mob tactics".<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8hHFZx_tUhcC&q=flash+mob&pg=PA163 | title = Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America | author = Jeffrey Ian Ross | date = 2013 | publisher = Sage Publications | isbn = 978-1412999571 | access-date = June 18, 2014}}</ref><ref name="NRF1">{{cite web | url = https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/Documents/Multiple_Offender_Crimes_1.pdf | title = Multiple Offender Crimes | publisher = ] | date = 2011 | access-date = June 19, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714233433/https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/Documents/Multiple_Offender_Crimes_1.pdf | archive-date = July 14, 2014 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> In a report, the NRF noted, "multiple offender crimes tend to involve groups or gangs of juveniles who already know each other, which does not earn them the term 'flash mob'."<ref name="NRF1" /> Mark Leary, a professor of ] and ] at ], said that most "flash mob thuggery" involves crimes of violence that are otherwise ordinary, but are perpetrated suddenly by large, organized groups of people: "What social media adds is the ability to recruit such a large group of people, that individuals who would not rob a store or riot on their own feel freer to misbehave without being identified."<ref>{{cite web|last=Leary|first=Mark|title=Why People Take Part in Violent Flash Mobs|date=August 19, 2011 |url=http://today.duke.edu/2011/08/tip-flash-mobs|publisher=Duke University News and Communications|access-date=September 6, 2011}}</ref>


{{quotation |It's hard for me to believe that these kids saw some YouTube video of people Christmas caroling in a food court, and said, 'Hey, we should do that, except as a robbery!' More likely, they stumbled on the simple realization (like I did back in 2003, but like lots of other people had before and have since) that one consequence of all this technology is that you can coordinate a ton of people to show up in the same place at the same time.|Bill Wasik<ref name="TFT1">{{cite news | url = http://www.thefastertimes.com/news/2011/06/30/who-put-the-flash-mob-in-flash-mob-robberies/ | title = Who Put the 'Flash Mob' in Flash Mob Robberies? | author = Amanda Walgrove | date = 20 June 2011 | newspaper = ] | access-date = 2014-06-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140903113444/http://www.thefastertimes.com/news/2011/06/30/who-put-the-flash-mob-in-flash-mob-robberies/ | archive-date = September 3, 2014 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>}}
===Worldwide Pillow Fight Day===
Worldwide Pillow Fight Day (or International Pillow Fight Day) was a ] that took place on March 22, 2008. Over 25 cities around the globe participated in the first "international flash mob", which was the world's largest flash mob to date.<ref name="nationalpost">{{cite news|url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/03/21/let-the-feathers-fly.aspx|last=Fitzgerald|first=Sean D.|title=International Pillow Fight Day: Let the feathers fly!|publisher=]|date=21 March 2008|accessdate=2008-05-19}}</ref> According to '']'', more than 5,000 participated in New York City, overtaking London's 2006 ] gathering as the largest recorded flash mob.<ref name="wallstreet">{{cite web|url=http://s.wsj.net/article/SB120814163599712081.html|title=Students Unleash A Pillow Fight On Manhattan|publisher=]|last=Athavaley|first=Anjali|date=15 April 2008|accessdate=2008-05-19}}</ref> Word spread via social networking sites, including ], ], private ], public forums, personal websites, as well as by word of mouth, text messaging, and email. Participating cities included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="VCS" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pillowfightday.com/2008.php|title=World Wide Pillow Fight Day|publisher=Newmindspace|accessdate=2010-04-14}}</ref>


{{quotation | These kids are taking part in what's basically a ]. They heard about it from friends, and probably saw it on YouTube, and now they're getting their chance to participate in it themselves.|Bill Wasik<ref name="WIRED1"/>}}
==Legal incidents==
Legal actions have been taken in other countries to stem flash mobs for reasons other than violence such as the disruption of business and service. The city of ], Germany has stopped flash mobs by strictly enforcing the already existing law of requiring a permit to use any public space for an event.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090728-20875.html|title=Flash mobs banned in Braunschweig|date=28 July 2009 | publisher=The Local Europe|accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref>


'']'' raised the question asking if "the media was responsible for stirring things up", and added that in some cases the local authorities did not confirm the use of social media making the "use of the term flash mob questionable".<ref name="HUFFPO1" /> Amanda Walgrove wrote that criminals involved in such activities do not refer to themselves as "flash mobs", but that this use of the term is nonetheless appropriate.<ref name="TFT1" /> Dr. Linda Kiltz drew similar parallels between flash robs and the ] stating, "As the use of social media increases, the potential for more flash mobs that are used for political protest and for criminal purposes is likely to increase.".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://webapps.icma.org/pm/9311/public/cover.cfm?author=Linda%20Kiltz&title=Flash%20Mobs%3A%20The%20Newest%20Threat%20to%20Local%20Governments&subtitle#f8 | title = Flash Mobs: The Newest Threat to Local Governments | work = Public Management Magazine | issue = December 2011 | author = Linda Kiltz | access-date = June 18, 2014 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120952/http://webapps.icma.org/pm/9311/public/cover.cfm?author=Linda%20Kiltz&title=Flash%20Mobs%3A%20The%20Newest%20Threat%20to%20Local%20Governments&subtitle#f8 | archive-date = August 26, 2014 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>
In the United Kingdom, a number of flash mobs have been stopped over concerns for public health and safety.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2008/05/19/videos-police-step-in-to-prevent-facebook-flash-mob-events-115875-20423056/|title=Videos: Police step in to prevent Facebook flash mob events|author=Robert Leigh|publisher=]|date=2008-05-19|accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref> The ] have urged flash mob organizers to "refrain from holding such events <nowiki>]<nowiki>]</nowiki> at railway stations".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7913034.stm|title=Rail police criticise flash mobs|publisher=]| author=| date=26 February 2009|accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref>

In the United States, in 2009 and 2010, the city of ] experienced a wave of crimes that either started with the intent or led to the destruction of private property, rioting, violence, and personal injury.<ref name="FMR">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html|title=Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message|author=Ian Urbina|date=March 24, 2010|publisher=]| accessdate= 2010-12-30}}</ref> As a result, police used ] to disperse crowds and arrests were made.<ref>http://chattarati.com/neighborhoods/utc/2009/4/23/updated-police-officers-use-pepper-spray-utc-stude/ Retrieved December 30, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.dailypress.com/news/norfolk/wtkr-flash-mob-odu,0,5968562.story| title=Flash mob takes Old Dominion University campus by surprise| author= Maegan Smith 247-4751| date= December 11, 2009| work=The Newport News Daily Press}}</ref> These events were often referred to as “flash robs,” “flash mob crimes,” or “flash mob violence.”<ref>{{cite web|last=Lawyers.com|title=Flash Mobs Step From Dancing to Crimes|url=http://criminal.lawyers.com/Criminal-Law-Basics/Flash-Mobs-Step-From-Dancing-to-Crimes.html}}</ref> Organizers of innocuous legal flash mobs consider “flash mob crime” and similar terms inaccurate and damaging to the reputation of flash mobs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lawyers.com|title=Flash Mobs Step From Dancing to Crimes|url=http://criminal.lawyers.com/Criminal-Law-Basics/Flash-Mobs-Step-From-Dancing-to-Crimes.html|accessdate=19 August 2011}}</ref>

Lawmakers and lobbyists in Philadelphia are considering different tactics to counter these groups such as extending curfew hours, limiting the hours of school bus passes, and holding parents more legally accountable for the actions of their children.<ref name="FMR" /> Bill Wasik has expressed "surprise by the new focus of some of the gatherings" and called it "terrible that these Philly mobs have turned violent".<ref name="FMR" />

Similar incidents of violence occurred during the summer of 2011 in Philadelphia, Maryland, Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Ottawa.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/16/maryland.flash.mob/ | work=CNN | title='Flash mob' robs Maryland 7-Eleven in less than a minute, police say | date=2011-08-17}}</ref><ref></ref> In Philadelphia the new incidents drew harsh condemnation from mayor ] and resulted in curfews being imposed in two local districts.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://johnkingusa.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/11/flash-mob-violence-on-u-s-streets/?iref=allsearch | work=CNN | title='Flash-mob' violence on U.S. streets &ndash; John King USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/12/on-the-radar-meteor-shower-flash-mob-curfew-custody-death/?iref=allsearch | work=CNN | title=On the Radar: Meteor shower, flash-mob curfew, custody death &ndash; This Just In}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203752604576643422390552158.html|title='Flash Robs' Vex Retailers|accessdate=24 October 2011}}</ref>

On 27 Nov 2011, at ], nearly 200 dancers took commuters by surprise, when they broke into dance accompanied by the title track from Bollywood hit ']'. Although this wasnot the first Flash mob performed in ],this according to many,was a very significant event as the same venue was the site of a terrorist attack a few years back, though this time it was more about the fun and enjoyment quotient. After this event, similar impromptu events have occurred in many major cities of India. The Indian flash mobs are gaining more and more popularity as people are becoming aware of the phenomena.

"The illegal and violent component is also not unlike ordinary crimes where a group of people do something illegal," said Mark Leary, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. "What social media adds is the ability to recruit such a large group of people, that individuals who would not rob a store or riot on their own feel freer to misbehave without being identified."<ref>{{cite web|last=Leary|first=Mark|title=Why People Take Part in Violent Flash Mobs|url=http://today.duke.edu/2011/08/tip-flash-mobs|publisher=Duke University News and Communications|accessdate=September 6, 2011}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*], a similar fictional concept by ] used as a plot device in several his stories
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
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==Further reading== ==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Agar|first=Jon|title=Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone|publisher= Icon| location= Cambridge|year=2003}} * {{cite book |last=Agar |first=Jon |year=2003 |title=Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone |location=Cambridge |publisher=Icon |isbn=9781840464191 |oclc=633650620}}
* {{cite news |title=Smart mob storms London |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3134559.stm |publisher=] |date=August 8, 2003 |access-date=September 22, 2021}}
*{{cite book|last=Carey|first=James|title=Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society|publisher=Unwin Hyman|location=New York|year=1989}}
* {{cite book |last=Carey |first=James |year=1989 |title=Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society |location=New York |publisher=Unwin Hyman |isbn=9780044450641 |oclc=863091901}}
*{{cite news|url=http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3134559.stm| title=Smart mob storms London|date=8 August 2003|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2009-08-11}}
*{{cite news|title=From 9/11 to 3/11|last=Dickey|first=Christopher|date=22 March 2004|work= Newsweek| pages= 27–28}} * {{cite news |last=Dickey |first=Christopher |date=March 22, 2004 |title=From 9/11 to 3/11 |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4523891/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040314205119/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4523891/ |archive-date=March 14, 2004 |work=] |pages=27–28 |access-date=September 22, 2021}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/mar/25/spain.newmedia|title=A 21st century protest| last=Losowsky|first=Andrew|date=25 March 2004|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2010-10-03 | location=London}} * {{cite news |last=Losowsky |first=Andrew |date=March 25, 2004 |title=A 21st Century Protest |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/mar/25/spain.newmedia |work=] |location=London |access-date=October 3, 2010}}
*{{cite news|title=Whoever Said August was a Dull Month?|last=Melloan|first=George|date=12 August 2003|work= Wall Street Journal|pages=A13}} * {{cite news |last=Melloan |first=George |date=August 12, 2003 |title=Whoever Said August Was a Dull Month? |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106064651896269300 |work=] |pages=A13 |access-date=September 22, 2021}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/|title=Flash mob craze spreads |last= Shmueli|first= Sandra|date=8 August 2003|work=CNN.com/Technology|publisher=CNN|accessdate=2009-08-11}} * {{cite news |last=Shmueli |first=Sandra |date=August 8, 2003 |title=Flash Mob Craze Spreads |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/ |department=Technology |publisher=] |access-date=August 11, 2009}}
* {{cite web |title=Dadaist Lunacy or the Future of Protest? |url=http://www.sirc.org/articles/flash_mob.shtml |publisher=] |access-date=December 23, 2013}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Wasik |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Wasik |issue=March 2006 |title=My Crowd |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2006/03/my-crowd/1/ |magazine=] |access-date=June 18, 2014}}


==External links== ==External links==
* {{wiktionary-inline}}
{{Commons category|Flash mobs}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Flash mobs}}
*{{YouTube|GXXpJE_DSrg|Flashmob Dance Jakarta}}
* from kablam.tv
* - Wired News
*


{{Guerrilla theatre}} {{Guerrilla theatre}}
{{Culture jamming}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Flash Mob}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Flash Mob}}
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Latest revision as of 11:06, 22 December 2024

Form of sudden public performance This article is about the social activity. For other uses, see Flash mob (disambiguation).

A public pillow fight in Bologna, Italy

A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.

The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals. In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.

The term "flash rob" or "flash mob robberies", a reference to the way flash mobs assemble, has been used to describe a number of robberies and assaults perpetrated suddenly by groups of teenage youth. Bill Wasik, originator of the first flash mobs, and a number of other commentators have questioned or objected to the usage of "flash mob" to describe criminal acts. Flash mob has also been featured in some Hollywood movie series, such as Step Up.

History

First flash mob

Flash mobbing was quickly imitated outside of the United States. This picture is of "sydmob" 2003, the first flash mob held in Sydney, Australia.

The first flash mobs were created in Manhattan in 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine. The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. Wasik avoided such problems during the first successful flash mob, which occurred on June 17, 2003, at Macy's department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.

More than 130 people converged upon the ninth-floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a "love rug", and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at hippies and to highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity and of wanting to be an insider or part of "the next big thing". The Vancouver Sun wrote, "It may have backfired on him ... may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming." In another interview he said "the mobs started as a kind of playful social experiment meant to encourage spontaneity and big gatherings to temporarily take over commercial and public areas simply to show that they could".

Precedents and precursors

In 19th-century Tasmania, the term flash mob was used to describe a subculture consisting of female prisoners, based on the term flash language for the jargon that these women used. The 19th-century Australian term flash mob referred to a segment of society, not an event, and showed no other similarities to the modern term flash mob or the events it describes.

In 1973, the story "Flash Crowd" by Larry Niven described a concept similar to flash mobs. With the invention of popular and very inexpensive teleportation, an argument at a shopping mall—which happens to be covered by a news crew—quickly swells into a riot. In the story, broadcast coverage attracts the attention of other people, who use the widely available technology of the teleportation booth to swarm first that event—thus intensifying the riot—and then other events as they happen. Commenting on the social impact of such mobs, one character (articulating the police view) says, "We call them flash crowds, and we watch for them." In related short stories, they are named as a prime location for illegal activities (such as pickpocketing and looting) to take place. Lev Grossman suggests that the story title is a source of the term "flash mob".

People dancing at the Eutopia 15 Flashmob Event while crossing Puerta del Puente in Córdoba, Spain (2015)

Flash mobs began as a form of performance art. While they started as an apolitical act, flash mobs may share superficial similarities to political demonstrations. In the 1960s, groups such as the Yippies used street theatre to expose the public to political issues. Flash mobs can be seen as a specialized form of smart mob, a term and concept proposed by author Howard Rheingold in his 2002 book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.

Use of the term

The first documented use of the term flash mob as it is understood today was in 2003 in a blog entry posted in the aftermath of Wasik's event. The term was inspired by the earlier term smart mob.

Flash mob was added to the 11th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary on July 8, 2004, where it noted it as an "unusual and pointless act" separating it from other forms of smart mobs such as types of performance, protests, and other gatherings. Also recognized noun derivatives are flash mobber and flash mobbing. Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English defines flash mob as "a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse." This definition is consistent with the original use of the term; however, both news media and promoters have subsequently used the term to refer to any form of smart mob, including political protests; a collaborative Internet denial of service attack; a collaborative supercomputing demonstration; and promotional appearances by pop musicians. The press has also used the term flash mob to refer to a practice in China where groups of shoppers arrange online to meet at a store in order to drive a collective bargain.

Legality

The city of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany, has stopped flash mobs by strictly enforcing the already existing law of requiring a permit to use any public space for an event. In the United Kingdom, a number of flash mobs have been stopped over concerns for public health and safety. The British Transport Police have urged flash mob organizers to "refrain from holding such events at railway stations".

Crime

Main article: Flash rob

Referred to as flash robs, flash mob robberies, or flash robberies by the media, crimes organized by teenage youth using social media rose to international notoriety beginning in 2011. The National Retail Federation does not classify these crimes as "flash mobs" but rather "multiple offender crimes" that utilize "flash mob tactics". In a report, the NRF noted, "multiple offender crimes tend to involve groups or gangs of juveniles who already know each other, which does not earn them the term 'flash mob'." Mark Leary, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, said that most "flash mob thuggery" involves crimes of violence that are otherwise ordinary, but are perpetrated suddenly by large, organized groups of people: "What social media adds is the ability to recruit such a large group of people, that individuals who would not rob a store or riot on their own feel freer to misbehave without being identified."

It's hard for me to believe that these kids saw some YouTube video of people Christmas caroling in a food court, and said, 'Hey, we should do that, except as a robbery!' More likely, they stumbled on the simple realization (like I did back in 2003, but like lots of other people had before and have since) that one consequence of all this technology is that you can coordinate a ton of people to show up in the same place at the same time.

— Bill Wasik

These kids are taking part in what's basically a meme. They heard about it from friends, and probably saw it on YouTube, and now they're getting their chance to participate in it themselves.

— Bill Wasik

HuffPost raised the question asking if "the media was responsible for stirring things up", and added that in some cases the local authorities did not confirm the use of social media making the "use of the term flash mob questionable". Amanda Walgrove wrote that criminals involved in such activities do not refer to themselves as "flash mobs", but that this use of the term is nonetheless appropriate. Dr. Linda Kiltz drew similar parallels between flash robs and the Occupy Movement stating, "As the use of social media increases, the potential for more flash mobs that are used for political protest and for criminal purposes is likely to increase.".

See also

References

  1. "Facebook flashmob shuts down station". CNN. February 9, 2009.
  2. "Va-va-voom is in the dictionary". BBC. July 8, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  3. ^ "definition of flash mob from Oxford English Dictionaries Online". Oxford University Press. July 8, 2004. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  4. "Mixed feelings over Philadelphia's flash-mob curfew". BBC. August 12, 2011.
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Further reading

External links

  • The dictionary definition of flash mob at Wiktionary
  • Media related to Flash mobs at Wikimedia Commons
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