Flashmob. What it is?

In the youth environment, this concept has long been known, although there are only a dozen years. But here the representatives of the older generation do not always understand what, in fact, is in question. So, flashmob - what is this?

A bit of history

"Flash mob" is an English word, more precisely, a combination of words: flash - lightning, flash, moment and mob - a group of people, a company, a crowd. In fact, for the first time, I combined these two concepts - "instant" and "crowd" - the American science fiction writer Larry Niven, who created in the 70s of the 20th century a story about cheap teleportation in the future. True, his term sounded like a "flash crowd".

In 2002, a book was published by the American sociologist Howard Reingold, who predicted that in the 21st century people will unite to conduct mass actions using the growing opportunities of information technology. Such structured, culturally leading groups are called "smart mob" - "smart crowd". But what about flashmob?

What it is?

Today, these terms mean a mass action, in which a group of people, often unfamiliar, takes part. They gather in the designated place, behave in a certain way for a given period of time, and then quickly (instantly) diverge, as if dissolving in the crowd of spectators, as if nothing had happened.

The organization of flash mobs is carried out through electronic communications, such as cell phones or the Internet. Participants, called mobbers, post news about the place, time and subject of the upcoming event in blogs, on social networking pages or a specially created website. Sometimes electronic mailing or SMS-messages is also used.

Pioneers

The official birth date of the flash mob is June 17, 2003. It was on this day that about one and a half hundred people gathered near the expensive carpet at the largest department store in the world - the New York "Macy's" - and explained to the sellers that they lived in a commune on the outskirts of a megacity, in a warehouse, and would like to buy a "Carpet of Love".

The success of the project was so high that it was like a tsunami that swept through America, Europe and other continents. Mobbers applauded for 15 seconds in the lobby of the hotel "Hyatt", represented by tourists in a shoe store in Soho. The organizer of the first American shares was Bill Wazick, editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine. He considered them an amusing action, ridiculing party-goers. However flashmob began its victorious procession on the planet.

The first European action took place on July 24 of the same year in Rome. Three hundred people gathered in a bookstore, demanding from sellers books with nonexistent names. August 16, 2003, the first flash mobs in Russia and Ukraine were held.

Predecessors

But is this a new phenomenon - flash mob? What is this - a sign of the XXI century or a well-forgotten old? Experts believe that similar actions occurred before: organized groups of people went without pants to the metro, gathered from different regions of the country for a bike ride, instantly "frozen" at the New York station, frozen in various poses. However, only nowadays the flash mob has become a truly mass action. For example, in one of the actions in Chicago in 2009, more than 20 thousand people took part. Today the terminology and rules of this movement have been developed, its name has firmly settled in academic editions of dictionaries and the mass media.

goal

The purpose of each action depends on its type. Usually they are organized for the spontaneous entertainment of the participants and the bewilderment of passers-by: people dance massively, they lie down on the floor of supermarkets, dress up in stylog suits, embrace passers-by, participate in pillow battles, freeze, look up at the sky, launch Chinese lanterns. But some actions are held for political or commercial purposes.

The best flash mobs are absurd, mysterious, look spontaneous, lead casual spectators into confusion and even shock. Watch the wonderful film "Step Up 4". It's not just great mass dances. The picture will show you a real flash mob: what it is, how it is organized and what consequences it can have.