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"Flash mobs" take social behavior to next level
Tech-savvy pranksters lure strangers for group stunts via e-mail
Doug Bedell, The Dallas Morning News
July 25, 2003
Flash mobs may be coming to a city near you.
What started in Manhattan has now spread to San Francisco, Minneapolis and London. Hundreds of people following e-mailed instructions suddenly converge on a location, act out a loose script, then quickly disperse after a preset time, usually 10 minutes.
One of the latest Manhattan flash mobs brought together more than 250 strangers at the Hyatt Hotel. They fanned out along the block-long balcony overlooking the hotel lobby and, at a precise moment, burst into 15 seconds of loud, unexplained applause, then drifted off into the night.
"I don't know what that was all about, but it definitely got our attention," said a Hyatt employee who would not give his name. "To me, it's all pretty loony."
Not even participants such as 32-year-old David Danzig really understand the allure of flash mobbing.
"It's interesting and fun," he said. "I'm not sure I saw any point to it, really. It's just the nonsensical nature and silliness of it all."
But author and futurist Howard Rheingold believes such occurrences will grow as people become more adept at using technology to arrange all sorts of "ad-hocracies" - whether for public performance art, just to "freak people out" or to promote serious political and social movements.
"I think this is all a symptom of a phenomenon that has a long-term and large-scale effect," said Rheingold, author of "Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution." "It's the ability for groups of people to organize collective action in the face-to-face world in ways and at times that they were unable to do before the combination of the Internet and mobile telephones made it possible."
Rheingold, a Californian, receives regular correspondence from flash mobbers but said he has nothing to do with their sudden appearance.
"They seem to be spreading, and I'm glad," he said. "Especially in New York, where everyone's so serious about security post 9-11. It's OK to have fun. The Constitution does guarantee the right for people to peaceably assemble, you know."
Thus far, four New York flash mob incidents have been orchestrated by an organizer known only as Bill. Nobody seems to know how or why they ended up receiving the e-mailed instructions for the events. It's all done with forwarded e-mails from one to many, then many more.
The latest occurred July 16 when hundreds crammed into an upscale SoHo shoe store. For five minutes, they behaved as if they were tourists from Maryland on a bus trip, then quickly broke up. Bystanders were bewildered.
For Manhattan Mob No. 2, more than 100 people flooded the ninth floor of Macy's and surrounded a large Oriental rug. As puzzled sales clerks looked on, the mobsters began discussing whether to collectively purchase the $10,000 "Love Rug" for their fictitious communal living compound.
After 10 minutes, the group decided it just wouldn't do, then left.
During Mob No. 1 in May, about 50 people swarmed a department store accessory department, hung around for 10 minutes, then evaporated.
The New York flash mobs have grown steadily in size.
"I think they're just going to get bigger with more press," Danzig said. "There's nothing stopping it."
And, not surprisingly, the New York swarms have drawn concern from authorities. Participants say police evidently got wind of Mob No. 3, which was teased by organizers as "The Grand Central Station Mob Ballet."
But on the day of the event, three vague terrorist threats had been received by New York officials, and police seemed on edge about any gathering inside the famed train depot, Danzig said. In response, The New York Mob Project quickly sent out new e-mail instructions to swarm the Hyatt lobby balcony instead, avoiding any confrontations.
"The National Guardsmen with machine guns had something to do with it," organizer Bill told mob members in a July 9 e-mail.
Elsewhere, sudden mobs are assembling in San Francisco, where organizer Rob Zazueta has signed up about 200 volunteers for a future event.
Unlike the New York Mob Project, Zazueta is not being exclusive with his invitations to participate. A Web form allows anyone to sign up at www.robzazueta.com. The 28-year-old Web developer plans to produce a flash mob event "in the next few weeks." Zazueta also has started a Web page to keep track of flash mob events worldwide at www.flocksmart.com.
In Minneapolis, pranksters are organizing a flash mob this month using a pair of Web sites at groups.yahoo.com/group/minneapolismob and www.geocities.com/minneapolismob.
Part of the fun is embedded in the instantaneous nature of the communications media involved. Numerous Web logs (blogs for short) provide fast coverage when a flash mob materializes.
Many of the swarmers wield digital video equipment and camera-equipped cellphones to record bystander reaction to their short bursts of inanity. Within minutes, blogs such as Cheese Bikini? (www.cheesebikini.com/blog) and The Official Record (www.creamy.com/blog) post snapshots of the mob in action.
Then, using the blog discussion boards, participants and outsiders compare notes on their experiences and impressions.
Other versions of swarming have sprung up across the country.
A group of lesbians and gay men in Detroit are using a Web site and e-mail lists to organize The Detroit Guerrilla Queer Bar.
The concept, taken from similar events developed by gay communities in about a dozen U.S. cities, involves targeting a local straight restaurant or bar for swarming on a designated night.
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