Warning: You've Been Flash Mobbed!

By Tara Taghizadeh, PopMatters. Posted October 9, 2003.

Picture this: You're wandering around in a shopping mall in the early evening, or casually browsing a bookstore when, all of a sudden, a swarm of 100-200 people charge into the store and start muttering gibberish, or quack like ducks, or congregate around the magazine stand and flip through magazines while reading aloud, or bombard sales staff with bizarre questions. Then, just as mysteriously as they appeared, the crowd disperses, leaving behind confused and mystified storeowners and bystanders alike. Welcome to the era of Flash Mobs, folks, the latest fad sweeping the world.

From New York (its reputed origin) to L.A., and London to Cape Town, Flash Mobs have been "mobbing" designated locations around the world, for no other reason, it seems, than sheer enjoyment. To the delight (and tremendous help) of a bewildered media keen on attempting to not only report on the peculiar antics of Flash Mobs but also interpret their questionable cause, Mobsters have become the toast of the press and have generated a serious buzz. The moral of the story is: If you're a ("Flash") Mobster, you're cool; if you're not, well, get hip to this trend, why don't ya?

Ranging in age from 21-40 years old, the digitally connected Flash Mob participants (who are predominantly well-educated professionals) pay homage by assemblage to their guru, the Internet aficionado Howard Rheingold. Rheingold's new book, Smart Mobs: The Coming Social Revolution foretells the arrival of a digitally social revolution. As stated on Rheingold's website:

Smart mobs emerge when communication and computing technologies amplify human talents for cooperation. The impacts of smart mob technology already appear to be both beneficial and destructive, used by some of its earliest adopters to support democracy and by others to coordinate terrorist attacks. The technologies that are beginning to make smart mobs possible are mobile communication devices and pervasive computing ...

Rheingold, who has recently given a slew of press interviews, points to events such as the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle when protestors used "updated websites, cell phones, and 'swarming' tactics" to stage their overwhelming protests. In addition, he also claims "a million Filipinos toppled President Estrada through public demonstrations organized through salvos of text messages." Emails and cell phone messaging may indeed be the revolutionaries' mode of rally today, and so for Flash Mobs.

So far, at least, Flash Mobs are nonpolitical. But is the Flash Mob phenomenon a sign of other things to come? With the power of Internet groups, mass emails, and cell phone messages, Flash Mobs manage to gather together groups of people, many of whom are complete strangers.

According to most accounts, a 28-year-old New York resident who prefers to be recognized simply as "Bill" originated the first widely acclaimed Flash Mob in New York City this past June, when hundreds of Mobsters bombarded the carpet department at Macy's. They collectively demanded that they were looking for carpets for their commune, to the sheer amazement of the salesman on duty. The entire event was coordinated by a series of emails that were forwarded from one person to another.

However, the original Flash Mob in NYC had a drawback: a recipient of the Flash Mob email alerted the police to the happening, and a paddy wagon and a group of law enforcement officials showed up to thwart the Flash Mob. As a result, Mob leaders have taken extra precautions to ward off not only the police but also the press. Starting with New York, Mob sightings have now been reported in San Francisco, France, Italy, Korea, Toronto, and elsewhere, where Mobs, after synchronizing their watches, burst into thunderous applause at a designated time, or stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an effort to depict their "performance art".

So, what's the point of a Flash Mob? There is no point, apparently. As quoted in the Washington Post, Flash Mob participant Tom Grow, a web developer, described the phenomenon as such: "It's catching on mostly because of the spontaneity. With world events the way they are, people look at it as an escape." (21 August '03) Interesting, though, that -- as many have observed -- these so-called mobs haven't caused the alarm that perhaps they should, given the fact that we live in a post-9/11 world.

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