flash mob

Image:First Sydney flash mob, August 2003.jpg, Australia.]]

The first flash mobs were created in Manhattan in 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine.{{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 = Wired |date=January 2012 | access-date =January 22, 2012 }} The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather.{{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 }} 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.{{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 = Harper's Magazine | pages = 56–66 |date=March 2006 | volume = March 2006 | access-date =February 2, 2007 | issn = 0017-789X | oclc = 4532730 }}

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.Bedell, Doug. "E-mail Communication Facilitates New 'Flash Mob' Phenomenon", Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, July 23, (2003) 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 ... [Wasik] may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming."{{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=Canwest Publishing Inc |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 }} 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".{{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=The New York Times| access-date=December 30, 2010}}

In 1973, the story "Flash Crowd" by Larry Niven described a concept similar to flash mobs.Nold, Christian (2003). [http://www.softhook.com/legible.htm "Legible Mob"]. p. 23. 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".Grossman, Lev, (June 13, 2012). [https://entertainment.time.com/2012/06/13/lord-of-the-ringworld-in-praise-of-larry-niven/ "Lord of the Ringworld: In Praise of Larry Niven"]. Time.

File:Córdoba 2015 10 23 2764 (26152295081).jpg, 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.Cosmic Trigger III, Robert Anton Wilson, 1995, New Falcon Publications Flash mobs can be seen as a specialized form of smart mob,{{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}} a term and concept proposed by author Howard Rheingold in his 2002 book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.{{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}}

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.{{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=The New York Observer|date=June 10, 2014|author=Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke|access-date=January 17, 2016}} The term was inspired by the earlier term smart mob.{{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 }}

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.{{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}} 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."{{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

}} 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;{{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 }} a collaborative Internet denial of service attack;{{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 = CNET | date = February 11, 2005 | access-date =May 3, 2007 }} a collaborative supercomputing demonstration;{{cite news | first = Celeste | last = Biever | title = A Flash mob to attempt supercomputing feat | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4826 | work = New Scientist | issn=0262-4079|oclc= 2378350 | date = March 29, 2004}} and promotional appearances by pop musicians.{{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=USA Today | date = February 27, 2004 | access-date =September 22, 2021}} 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.{{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 }}

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.{{cite web |title=The Flash Mob |url=http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash |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 |access-date=October 23, 2007 |work=Cascades Female Factory Historic Site |publisher=Female Factory Historic Site Ltd. |df=mdy-all}}

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.{{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}} In the United Kingdom, a number of flash mobs have been stopped over concerns for public health and safety.{{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}} The British Transport Police have urged flash mob organizers to "refrain from holding such events at railway stations".{{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}}

{{main|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.{{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}} The National Retail Federation does not classify these crimes as "flash mobs" but rather "multiple offender crimes" that utilize "flash mob tactics".{{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}}{{cite web | url = https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/Documents/Multiple_Offender_Crimes_1.pdf | title = Multiple Offender Crimes | publisher = National Retail Federation | 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 }} 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."{{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}}

{{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{{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 = The Faster Times | 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 = usurped | df = mdy-all }}}}

{{quotation|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."{{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 }}

• Critical mass (sociodynamics)
• Crowd manipulation
• Happening
• Improv Everywhere
• Zap (action)
• Flash Crowd, a similar fictional concept by Larry Niven used as a plot device in several of his stories

{{Reflist|2}}

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• {{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=The Wall Street Journal |pages=A13 |access-date=September 22, 2021}}
• {{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=CNN |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=Social Issues Research Centre |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=Harper's Magazine |access-date=June 18, 2014}}

• {{wiktionary-inline}}
• {{Commons category-inline|Flash mobs}}

{{Guerrilla theatre}}

{{Culture jamming}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flash Mob}}

Category:Culture jamming techniques

Category:Community organizing

Category:Internet memes

Category:Politics and technology

Category:2000s fads and trends

Category:2000s neologisms