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In modern usage, flash mob describes a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, and then quickly disperse. They are usually organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks.

The term has also been applied to distributed mobs, who use similar means to co-ordinate sudden large scale simultaneous actions in multiple locations. An example of such an action is the widespread use of mobile phones in the 2005 civil unrest in France to co-ordinate widespread social disruption.

In 1800s 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 1800s 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.

Origins

The first flash mob was organized in Manhattan in May 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine. The origin of the flash mobs were unknown until Wasik published an article about his creation in the March 2006 edition of Harper's. The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. The first successful flash mob assembled in June 3 2003 at Macy's department store. Wasik avoided such problems during the second flash mob by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four prearranged Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.

More than one hundred people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of Macy's department store, gathering around one particular very 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. Following this flash mob, about 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about fifteen seconds, and next a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

In the article Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at hipsters, and highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity and of wanting to be an insider or part of "the next big thing."

Also in the article Wasik credits blog proprietor Sean Savage at Cheesebikini.com of creating the term "flash mob" to describe this type of event.

In 1973, the story Flash Crowd by Larry Niven described a concept vaguely similar to flash mobs. It described how, with the invention of popular teleportation, an argument at a shopping mall, which happened to be covered by a news crew, swells into a riot. The broadcast coverage attracted 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 happened. In actuality, flash crowds are used to start up and heighten riots. When a riot begins and is televised, others join in, resulting in the participation of millions of people. Commenting on the social impact of such mobs, one character in Niven's story, articulating the police view, says, "We call them flash crowds, and we watch for them."

The 1998 novel Distraction by Bruce Sterling also features a riot by a flash mob in its opening pages, although the term is not used, and the flash mob riot is only a very peripheral element of the plot.

For partial origin of the name, see also: Flash crowd, Flash Mob entry on wordspy.com, Smart mob.

Usage and effects

Flash mobs started as pointless stunts, but the concept has already developed for the benefit of political and social agendas. For example, a group of gay and lesbian people in Detroit targeted a "straight restaurant" in reaction to reported homophobia there. Flash mobbing utilises the efficiency of communicating information on websites and by email, and protesters can similarly use the "on and off" concept to swarm political events.

In December 2004, in Bucharest, Romania, in front of the National Television, around 70 people stuck duct tape on their mouths and mimed a jogging session. It was a flash-mob that most referred to as "Shut Your Mouth And Play Those Ankles" referring to the expression of "do as you are told, do not comment" often given to those in Romania. The statement was targeted towards the low freedom of speech of the journalists in Televiziunea Română, the Romanian National Television. This flash-mob has caused changes, in conjunction with other events, in the board of the National Television.

It is also claimed that flash mob actions contributed to the defeat of Philippine president Joseph Estrada, when approximately a million people assembled through cell phone text messages gathered at EDSA (a main road) to demand the ouster of the president.

Flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock people. Such activities might seem amusing and surreal, but it also might frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place. Undoubtedly, flash mobs can serve as good political tools in any direction. They also have enormous economic potential, such as using flash mobs to advertise a product. For example, In India in November 2003, a month after the country's first reported flash mob, a few dozen people outside a mall in Mumbai began chanting the name of a television show. "We * flash mobs, had people who would get into local trains carrying pink umbrellas and discuss the program.... This got people curious and made them switch to our channel," said the Sony executive who arranged the event.

Around the world

Flash mob events quickly spread to Asia, and by August 2003 to Europe, Latin America and Australia. The first flash mob in India took place on October 4 2003 outside a shopping centre. A group of 70 people gathered, talked loudly about stock prices and then danced for a few minutes. More flash mob events were planned for Mumbai, but the police there introduced strict security restrictions in response to bomb blasts that occurred around the time. Police permission would have needed to be sought before a gathering of more than five people could take place.

Global Flash Mobs (GFM's) took place 3 times.

  • GFM #2 Across Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, North America, Asia, and Australia, in 76 cities in 32 countries, enthusiastic ‘flashmobbers’ have gathered on Saturday, June 19, to participate in a global Flash Mob to celebrate the first anniversary of what is now a worldwide phenomenon.

Brazil

2003 was a significant year for Brazilian flash mobs. The largest was organized in Avenida Paulista when participants stopped in the middle of the street and began walking/singing like Indians. In the mob a poster was displayed: "Against Bourgeois, download MP3!". Many flash mobs were organized in 2004/2005 through the social networking site orkut.

Canada

Flashmobs in Toronto have included massive games of Capture the Flag, a pillow fight and several subway parties. Montreal had its pillow fight on April 7th, 2006, when about a hundred people showed up under the rain for a flashmob at Square Dorchester. Canadian flash mobs have also taken the form of zombie mobs, in which people gather at a prearranged place in makeup and walk to a predetermined location in a "zombie" style, shuffling stiffly and moaning "braaains" at passers-by. The first was probably a small zombie flash mob which took place in Toronto's Queen West area on October 16, 2004. On July 3, 2005, several dozen self-described "hipster zombies" pretended to attack an unsuspecting medieval reenactment in Mount Royal Park in Montreal. In Vancouver, on August 27 2005, a group of 200 to 300 zombies assembled in front of the downtown Vancouver Art Gallery, circled the gallery, travelling through two protests, marched through the Pacific Centre mall, and took the SkyTrain to a station near the Main Street and Science World. The zombies paused there briefly, before attacking a few buses, and then walking up Main Street 30 blocks to the cemetery. The walk down Main Street was made quite a bit easier by a spontaneous police escort which shut down one lane of southbound traffic. This zombie subgenre of the phenomenon has spread to the U.S., including a recent incident in the Austin, Texas tryouts for American Idol.*

On March 25, 2006, an estimated 200-300 mobbers were at it again with the Pillow Fight Club, at the Vancouver Art Gallery, followed by the Bubble Mob on April 29, 2006.

France

In France, in March and April 2006, many riots were taking place against De Villepin and the CPE. Reportedly, some of the students were using cell phones to coordinate their actions.

Russia

Russia's flashmob community seems to be one of the largest. It includes more than 18,000 active members in more than 30 cities. The largest flashmob cities in Russia are St. Petersburg and Moscow *. In Russia's big cities during 2003-2005 flashmob events took place on weekly basis.

United Kingdom

In August 2003, a flash mob gathered at an Oxfam charity shop in Birmingham. The group stripped off their clothes and waved them above their heads while singing Give it Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and donated their clothes to the store. This event was described as being "the world's first altruistic mob".

August 23rd 2003 saw the first flash mob in the city of Hull. From inital set-up of website, user group and spreading the word it took 12 days. A crowd gathered in the city's Victoria Square, danced the hokey-cokey and disappeared into the crowds.

Earlier in the same month, a flash mob event took place at the London Eye In London, where an estimated one hundred people gathered and waved bananas clockwise in the air in order to celebrate the Millennium Wheel. These two events followed the first flash mob in England, which occurred at a Central London store and involved about 500 people speaking without use of the letter "O".

On Monday 13 October 2003, a flash mob took place at the site of the David Blaine stunt beneath the Tower Bridge in London. This was the start of the final week of magician Blaine's stunt, which saw him encased in a Perspex box for 44 days without any food, and hundreds of participants met at the South Bank by the Tower Bridge at 19:44. For one minute, the "flash mobbers" set off their mobile phone ringtones at the loudest setting, and then for the next minute the group stopped their ringtones and chanted "what goes up, must come down". The flash mobbers then created a cacophony of laughter while holding an item of food in the air, and then separated to bring the area back to its usual calm.

In November 2004 the BBC hosted a Flash Mob Opera at Paddington Station in the heart of London. With the BBC Orchestra present, flash Mobbers were mixed with commuters in singing.

Presented by Patrick O'Connell, Flashmob - The Opera featured well-known music from popular operas including Madam Butterfly, Don Giovanni and La Traviata, set to a new story by Stephen Powell, with new lyrics by Tony Bicât. The BBC Concert Orchestra was conducted by Robert Ziegler, who also arranged the music.

The opera is a contemporary take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. An engaged couple, Mike (sung by tenor Nicholas Ransley) and Sally (soprano Rachel Nicholls), come unstuck over Mike’s obsession with football. The station formed the backdrop to the action as Sally decides whether or not to run away with a handsome stranger (baritone Rodney Clarke) or stay with Mike. The three soloists are rising opera stars who between them have sung at Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, the Paris Châtelet, Sadler’s Wells and the BBC Proms.

From the BBC's official web site:

"There will be something like 200 people on site, including a 62-piece orchestra, a choir of singing policemen and a chorus of football fans … and all while it’s 'business as usual' at the station. It’s not the first place you’d think of doing a live opera!"

On 31 March 2005, about 80 to 100 people assembled outside the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh—without any visible signal (though at what must have been a prearranged time) most of them produced pillows or cushions, then enthusiastically and cheerfully thrashed each other for about 20 minutes before gradually dispersing.

On 22 December 2005, about 60 people assembled outside St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, in London at a prearranged time. They produced pillows and proceeded to thrash each other about for about 20 minutes to great cheering and cries of "Merry Christmas!" and suchlike. A few of the participants were dressed up as Santa and some had war paint on their cheeks.

On 31 May 2006 at 5:00pm, about 65 students from the University of Cambridge assembled outside Trinity College, having been informed of the event via Facebook. Dressed in yellow or beige, they then proceeded to do the conga down Trinity Street and eventually dispersed at the Guildhall. A second Cambridge flashmob took place at 6:06pm on 06 June 2006 (6:06 06/06/06) and involved around 100 students gathering either side of Great St Mary's church in Cambridge and meeting in the middle for a 30 second 'poke war'. This was followed by everyone simultaneously falling down acting dead for 30 seconds and then moving off. A video is available in the external links section below.

United States

The flash mob phenomenon originated in New York City in 2003 by journalist Bill Wasik. Since then, flash mobs have taken many forms including zombie walks, subway parties, massive pillow fights and spontaneous parades.

On April 23rd 2006 in Manhattan, New York City, about 80 people arrived in Union Square North at 3:30pm wearing blue short sleeved polo shirts, khaki pants, a belt, and black dress shoes, very similar to the uniforms worn by the employees of Best Buy. They proceeded to enter the Best Buy on 23rd Street in 15 second intervals. While in the store they would each stand at the end of the aisles in different departments; they didn't claim to be employees of Best Buy, but would be friendly, helpful, and answer questions from any customers if they were approached. This flash mob was confusing to employees as well as customers, one employee claimed it was just like the The Thomas Crown Affair. This flash mob was organised by Improv Everywhere. *

Other forms of flash mob activity

  • Flash mob computing is a temporary supercomputer made when a large group of people get together and tie computers together for a single purpose or event.
  • San Francisco's Suicide Club was an anarchic society that displayed disenchantments in the sense of drunk Santas and picnics at the Golden Gate Bridge. It is said that this society was very similar to flash mobs. The Cacophony Society is a modern-day incarnation.
  • Flash mob filmmaking Where a group of cameramen/women assemble for the purposes of creating either fictional or non-fiction work.
  • The 419 Flash Mob is a world wide online event against 419 fraud. For two days, people from around the world raise awareness of advance fee fraud by making a mass visit to fraudulent Web sites. Either these sites reach their bandwidth limit, or the admins notice the traffic and close the offending web sites. *

Flash Mobs in independent film buzz generation

The first known flash mob around an independent film was organized in Palo Alto in April 2006 by Anand Chandrasekaran and the production team, as part of buzz generation effort for Raw Power Productions' feature-length thriller, CARMA. Participants chanted * a novel take of the original Lizzie Borden poem to a packed audience at Stanford University, during an exclusive screening. This generated buzz in film circles in the San Francisco Bay Area.

See also

External links

Local flash mob sites

References

  • Wasik, Bill; "My Crowd - Or, Phase 5: A report from the inventor of the flash mob", p. 56 - 66, Harper's Magazine, March 2006

2000s fads | Internet memes | Politics and technology

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