Flashmob - what is it, definition, meaning, goals. What is a flash mob? What is taoke flashmob
As Wikipedia says, flashmob- this is a pre-planned outrageous mass action in which a large group of people (mobbers) suddenly appears in a public place, for several minutes people with a serious look perform pre-agreed actions of absurd content (script) and then simultaneously quickly disperse in different directions, no matter how what has never happened.
If translated literally, the word flashmob from English means: flash- flash, moment, moment; mob- crowd.
A prerequisite for the emergence of a flash mob was a book Howard Reingold "Smart Crowd: The New Social Revolution", published in 2002. In it, the sociologist predicted that people would use new communication technologies (Internet, cell phones) for self-organization. Already in 2003 a guy from San Francisco Rob Zazuet impressed by the book, he posted on the Internet the idea of organizing something extraordinary in a crowded place of a metropolis with the help of a crowd. His proposal was quickly received.
The first action was scheduled for June 3, but it was prevented by the police warned in advance. However, this did not force the young people to give up. The next time the organizers of the flash mob tried to avoid the "leak" of information. On June 17, 2003, participants went to a predetermined location, where they received instructions on the final location and time of the event right before it began. The essence of the action was as follows: in one of the largest stores in New York at the same time, about 200 people asked to sell them a "Love Mat", the cost of which at that time was $ 10,000. While the surprised management of the store was discussing the situation, potential buyers fled.
The news of the first flash mob quickly spread on the Internet, and within a few days a series of actions swept across America and Europe. For example, in Rome, 300 people went to a bookstore and asked for a novel by a fictional author, and in Berlin, near the American embassy, a crowd of people drank champagne for a certain Natasha, whom none of the mobbers knew.
In Russia, the first flash mob was organized by LJ users simultaneously in St. Petersburg and Moscow. On August 16, 2003, their participants met passengers at the station with incomprehensible signs. In Belarus, the wave of flash mobs was also not long in coming. On August 24, in Minsk, about a hundred people gathered at the central entrance to the Komarovsky market and began to applaud the iron lady (a famous statue near the market). After a short applause, candy on a stick was laid at the feet.
Flash mob scenarios are often called meaningless, and in this, it should be noted, there is some truth. The ideal scenario should just be absurd, mysterious, not very noticeable and in no way cause laughter. Participants must not violate laws and moral principles. They just have to do something meaningless, but as if it makes sense.
Everyone can become a participant of the flash mob. To do this, you just need to go to special sites and familiarize yourself with the scenarios, in which it is clearly written how, where and when this or that action will be held. Mobbers do not receive or pay any money for participation. As a rule, they pursue other goals: entertainment, self-affirmation, adrenaline rush, etc.
Over the five years of its existence, a division has occurred in the flashmob. First of all, this is due to the fact that such scenarios began to appear that did not correspond to the rules. However, they were played, and then it became clear that one definition is no longer able to satisfy everyone. New varieties have emerged: political mob (actions with a political connotation), i-mob (actions carried out on the Internet), extreme mob (actions with an extreme focus), etc. Perhaps it is because of this division that the flash mob movement has withered in recent years in many cities.
What is a flash mob?
A recently emerging direction for the application of the forces of young people dates back to 2002. In October 2002, Howard Reingold's book by the American sociologist titled "Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution" was published. In his work, the author said that for unification and organization, people will use new communication opportunities, that is, the Internet and cellular communications. The first site that organized flash mobs appeared in the state of California in San Francisco. flocksmart.com (currently not operational) was created by Rob Zazueta in 2003.
What is a flash mob?
A flash mob is a pre-planned and organized action in which a large number of people take part. They suddenly appear in any public place. Their task is to hold a short meeting. Their actions are agreed upon in advance, that is, there is a certain scenario of the meeting. After everything that was conceived is done, the mobbers disperse.
What is the purpose of flash mobbers?
An important point of the flash mob is that participants do not pay or receive money for participating in promotions. Therefore, there is no purpose of receiving funds.
Often, participants in an action can pursue different goals.
- Often, you can observe such goals as entertainment and leisure, the fight against social stereotypes of behavior, "surprise others", etc.
- Basically, the goals of the mobber are purely his psychological needs. For example, self-affirmation of the type "but it is weak for me to do it in public", lack of thrill and adrenaline in the blood, the desire to be involved in a common cause, etc.
- And also purely social goals - emotional support from a group of mobbers and making new friends in the camp of the flash mob action.
Here are some examples of flash mob actions:
- At 12:00 on any day, for example, June 28, everyone comes to the city hall. People are starting to throw small change directly into the building to protest the increase in public transport fees. Thus, people are trying to give money to government officials so that they fill their pockets and stop robbing citizens. This scenario can be called a political-mob or social-mob-style action scenario. As the example shows, these actions are of a political and social nature. As practice has shown, this type of rallies turns out to be safer and more efficient in comparison with open rallies and demonstrations.
- The flash mob called "Regularly!" Is widely known. This action was spontaneous and took place on the vastness of the native Internet. The Russian branch of the BBC news site published a study showing that most Russian alcoholics in working age died from alcohol that was not intended to be taken by mouth. In connection with the conclusions, the site users were asked a survey: "Do you drink cologne, antifreeze or detergents?" And the answer options:
- "Regularly",
- "Rarely",
- "Never",
- "I don't drink at all."
- One of the most spectacular art-mob actions to date took place in 10 countries around the world. This action was called "Thrill the world". It consisted in the fact that more than three hundred young people who made up for the living dead danced the world-famous dance of Michael Jackson "The Thriller". For a month, young people practiced and rehearsed the dance, including using video tutorials on the Internet.
So, the answer to the question of what a flash mob is lies in the ideology of these actions. A flash mob is a new type of rally and expression of public opinion based on the creative potential of its participants.
Concept
The flash mob is designed for casual viewers, causing mixed feelings of misunderstanding, interest and even participation.
Among the possible options, participants in flash mobs often look for:
- entertainment;
- feel free from social stereotypes of behavior;
- impress others;
- self-affirmation (test yourself: "Will I be able to do it in public?");
- trying to get a thrill;
- feeling of involvement in a common cause;
- get the effect like from group psychotherapy;
- emotional recharge;
- making new friends.
The goals of the flash mob are achieved through the "crowd effect". Participants in such actions in life are often quite successful and serious people. Some psychologists explain participation in flash mobs by the fact that everyday life and everyday worries tire them.
Basic principles of the flash mob:
- Spontaneity in a broad sense.
- Lack of centralized leadership, an elected commander.
- Lack of any financial or promotional purposes.
- Depersonification; participants of the flash mob (ideally, these are absolutely strangers) during the action should not show in any way that they are connected by something.
- Refusal to cover the flash mob in the media.
Generally accepted rules of a flash mob:
History
The origin of the flash mob is associated with the publication in October 2002 of the book by the sociologist Howard Reingold "Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution", in which the author predicted that people would use new communication technologies (Internet, cell phones) for self-organization. The concept of "smart mob" (English smart mob; see also Smartmob) became fundamental in the further development of flash mobs and other similar actions, all of which, in essence, are varieties of smart mobs. In June 2003, Rob Zazueta from San Francisco, having familiarized himself with the works of Reingold, created the first site for organizing such actions flocksmart.com.
The first flash mob was scheduled for June 3, 2003 in New York, USA, but did not take place. He was interrupted by the police warned in advance. The organizers avoided this problem with the second flash mob, which took place on June 17, 2003. Participants went to a predetermined location where they received instructions on the final location and time right before it started. Approximately 200 people (150 according to other sources) gathered around one expensive carpet in the furniture section of Macy’s department store and began to tell sellers that they lived together in a warehouse in a “suburban commune” on the outskirts of York and came to buy a “love rug”. Within a few days, a wave of stocks swept across America and Europe.
Of course, actions that can be qualified as a flash mob could have taken place long before the appearance of Reingold's book. But these were rather isolated cases, not a mass phenomenon. Only the availability of convenient and fast communication means and more or less well-formed rules allowed the flash mob to rapidly become popular almost all over the world. Therefore, it can be argued that it has a unique ideology and has no analogues in world history.
The most massive flash mob took place on September 8, 2009 in Chicago at the opening of the 24th season of the famous Oprah Winfrey show with a celebrity concert. The flash mob organized by the audience shocked the Black Eyed Peas, who performed the song "I Gotta Feeling". Even Oprah didn't know anything about it. This flash mob is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. It was attended by about 21 thousand people.
Flash mob in the CIS countries
The first Russian actions were organized through LJ and took place simultaneously in St. Petersburg and Moscow on August 16, 2003. Their participants with incomprehensible signs met passengers arriving by train at the station.
The first Ukrainian mobs also took place on August 16 in Dnepropetrovsk and Kiev almost simultaneously. On August 23, the first flash mob took place in Odessa.
In general, the flash mob in the CIS countries has been strongly developed in terms of ideology. In Belarus there were political mobs, appeared in Ukraine and Russia stuffing(most of the shares took place in St. Petersburg), there was a movement monstrations(originally in Novosibirsk). Flash mob festivals are held annually - mobfests.
Terminology
Initially, there was no terminology and classification of stocks at all, and the process of its formation continues to this day. Initially, the movement arose in the USA, and from this there are often tracing copies from English words: "mobplace", "afterparty", etc. The word "flash mob" itself entered the Russian language almost without changing its phonetic sound. There are often different variants of its spelling: "flash mob", "flash mob", "flash mob" and others. It is more correct to write exactly "flash mob".
Dictionary
Also, the terminology often differs from city to city. You can often find specialized dictionaries on the sites of different flash mob movements. In the CIS countries, dictionaries usually have something like this:
- Agents- people handing out leaflets with instructions for the participants of the action.
- Stock, or simply mob, - action, performance, specific final embodiment of the script.
- Afterparty(abbr. AP; English afterparty), sometimes aftermath, contemptuously vulgarization- meeting of mobbers after the action. They get to know each other on it, exchange discs from previous mobs, watch if there is already a video from a newly conducted mob, discuss and invent scenarios, and quite often mobbers on the AP decide to conduct another mob.
- Play (mob, mobilize) - execute the script. For example: "We already played this script last year."
- Fork- clocks located in public or other places, according to which mobbers synchronize their own clocks in advance for accurate arrival at the action. As a rule, such hours are on the website through which the flash mob was organized.
- Classic- FM action, built on the primary foundations of the ideology of the movement: instant crowd, absurdity of actions, etc. Sometimes the word is applied to scenarios that were probably played in every city with a flash mob movement (for example, “Remote Controls”).
- Code phrases- phrases used during certain actions to implement the scenario of these actions. Depending on the scenario, passphrases can be used to answer questions from passers-by, for contacts between mobbers and beacon as well as for other purposes.
- Lighthouse (cap) - a special person who is at the site of some actions in order to give the mobbers a prearranged signal about its beginning. The nature of the signal is discussed in advance when planning the action.
- Media group (tenants) - the official representatives of FM resources involved in the filming of shares.
- Mobber (flashmobber, Fmschik) - a person who participates in promotions. The options are: moblik- newbie mobber, mobster- an experienced mobber.
- Place X, area, sometimes mobplace- the place where the FM action took place.
- Sailing(self-ironic from "(flash mob) in Russian") - a phenomenon that consists in breaking the rules: talking, laughing and everything that was not planned. Sailors- mobbers who ignore the rules.
- Penguin, less often zribber- a person who learned about the action and, instead of participating in it, stands nearby and observes what is happening.
- Structures- mobbers-tourists who make pilgrimages to nonresident mob communities in order to "look at people - show themselves", have a good and extraordinary time in the company of mobbers.
- Stuffing- participant of the stuffing action
- Fomichi (Kuzmichi) - passers-by, casual witnesses of the action.
- Emachi(from the word emo) - is widely used in different meanings. Initially, this was the name of people who came to the flash mob from all kinds of youth subcultures or from VKontakte.ru groups and had no idea about the rules.
- Gfm(English Global Flash Mob) is a worldwide FM action, with the maximum number of countries and cities participating in it.
Organization mechanism
A flash mob is usually organized through Internet sites. There is one website in each city to avoid confusion. Some actions are organized through social networks (such actions, as a rule, are distinguished by poor training of mobbers and violation of flash mob rules). On the Internet, mobbers develop, propose and discuss scenarios for actions. The scenario, place and time of the action are appointed either by the site administration, or by voting.
Promotions are held in crowded places. The instructions for the promotion can be published on the website, or instructions are issued before the promotion by special agents.
In order not to provoke a negative reaction from casual viewers, such actions are held quietly and without noise, calmly and generally barely noticeable. In order not to cause laughter from casual spectators, the participants of the action do everything with a serious air.
At promotions, participants pretend that everything is spontaneous and quite commonplace for them. Therefore, it should not be complicated and with any bright attributes.
The action starts simultaneously by all participants. For this, the time is agreed or a special person is appointed ( Lighthouse), which should give everyone a signal to start the action.
Such actions do not last long (usually up to five minutes), otherwise casual spectators begin to be active: pester with questions, call security and law enforcement officers, ignore and continue to do their own thing, and so on.
Participants, as a rule, pretend that they do not know each other, and disperse at the same time (or according to the situation) in different directions. The simultaneous departure from the mob gives out the planning of the action, turning it into a profile.
The participants of the actions try not to answer the questions of the audience or do not reveal the true meaning of what is happening with the answers. Answers for passers-by can be discussed in advance when planning the action.
Promotions usually take place on weekends. The details of the rules may vary, which is previously stipulated in the scenario of the promotion.
The open interest of the media in what is happening in the action can spoil the effect of the action. Many flash mob sites have a special appeal to the media with an appeal to refrain, as far as possible, from covering in the media everything related to the flash mob movement.
- Do not repeat other people's and their own actions that have already taken place.
- Do not participate in raising ratings in any voting.
- Do nothing for any specific group of people or one person, all actions are aimed at temporarily distorting the meaning of the everyday life of casual witnesses to the actions of mobbers.
- Not to help anyone, but not to punish anyone.
- Do not disturb public order.
- Don't leave trash behind.
- Do not communicate live before, during and after promotions.
- During the action, mobbers should not create inconveniences for ordinary people who, by chance, find themselves close to the place of the action.
- Do not violate the script of the action and accurately execute everything that is indicated in it.
- Do not withdraw your promotions openly.
To avoid conflicts with law enforcement officials, you must have an identity card with you.
Types of shares
As the phenomenon of flash mob existed, scenarios began to appear that did not correspond to its rules. However, they were played, and then it became clear that the term "flash mob" is no longer able to satisfy everyone. Later, the very word "flash mob" became a household name, and they began to call it any action in which a certain number of people participate.
Although all new types of actions “came out” of the flash mob, some of them began to differ so much from it ideologically and organizationally that they can no longer be classified as types of flash mob in the original sense of the word and can be considered separate versions of the embodiment of smart mob technology. The one thing that most stocks have in common is the desire to do something together. All actions are unexpected for casual viewers. The unifying factor for many actions is self-organization through modern means of communication, but not for all: “flash mobs” can also be called events organized “from above”.
Therefore, the flash mob in the original sense of the word is now called classic flash mob.
In general, one can distinguish types of actions that branched off from the classic flash mob in the process of its natural development, but remained closely related to it ideologically, preserving, first of all, an entertaining and disinterested nature (non-performance mob, art mob, etc.), and independent forms of a flash mob or a smart mob that is fundamentally different from the classic flash mob ideologically and / or organizationally (i-mob, political mob, advertising flash mob). A controversial question is which group of these can be attributed to inherently entertaining actions, but organized "from above" and / or not involving the production of the effect of surprise on others.
Classic flash mob
Built on the primary foundations of the ideology of the movement. The main goal is to surprise casual viewers, but so that they do not have disgust or laughter from what is happening. It is difficult to keep the border between surprise and laughter, therefore, in its pure form, a classic flash mob is a rare phenomenon.
Types of shares related to the classic flash mob
Non-spectacular mob
Non-spectacular mob (real flash mob, non-spectacular mob, X-mob) - these are actions in which the participants try to simulate a subtle, sometimes subtle socio-communicative space, in which the experience of the participants themselves is in the first place. He may not be visible to others. It is not a task to impress an external viewer. The actions of the participants are so close to everyday life that their image begins to "flicker". It becomes unclear whether the actions performed according to the script are visible, or whether these are just the actions of an ordinary passer-by who accidentally repeated what is written in the script. Changing everyday life by everyday life, calculated on the tactics of déjà vu and the formation of a sense of quiet insanity among passers-by. This mob produces a consciousness-altering effect similar to the effect of psychotropic substances. Examples for example:
Art mob
TO art mobs(or mob-art) includes actions that have some artistic value and, as a result, the complexity of implementation, which sometimes requires deviation from some of the rules of the flash mob. As a rule, they are performed by a small number of participants using props. They are more focused on entertainment, aesthetics. Mob art involves rehearsals; mob art has a team of directors, screenwriters, and people who help with the organization. But he does not cease to be a mob, because all the basic rules during the action are valid.
On September 14, 2008, residents of Chelyabinsk in yellow raincoats lined up an 80-meter smile. The flash mob "Chelyabinsk smiles at the world" entered the Russian Book of Records as the most massive smile, from 3 to 6 thousand people took part in the action. The smiley was recorded by videographers and photojournalists from a helicopter, as well as a Google satellite that flew over the city during the action.
Dance flash mob
Mobbers hide in the crowd, sometimes in suits. One of them includes music, to which the dance was prepared in advance. Mobbers of several people come out of the crowd and begin to dance. After the end of the dance, the mobbers again go into the crowd.
The most famous and most massive dance campaign today is the "Thrill the World" campaign, which took place in 10 countries around the world. In Moscow, the action was held in one of the squares of the All-Russian Exhibition Center. More than three hundred young people, well made up as the living dead, performed a dance from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. During the month, the participants of the action rehearsed the dance with instructors and video tutorials distributed on social networks. A special feature of the Moscow action was the presence of a large number of journalists, spectators and police officers who had previously cordoned off the square.
Another kind of dance flash mob is dance walks in the city Dance Walking.
Dance walks in the urban environment were invented by journalist Ben Aaron from New York, who spied on them from an unknown master on the streets of the "big apple". In 2014, they started in Moscow and spread with varying success throughout the cities and towns of the former USSR at the suggestion of Alexander Girshon, dance and movement therapist, improvisation teacher, performer, choreographer, and his students. They are regularly held in St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Izhevsk, Yekaterinburg and dozens of other cities with different frequency. In the world, this idea has also resonated, although there seems to be no such regular activity.
The idea itself is as simple as possible - the participants walk and dance. In headphones, under one playlist in different places. You can't hear anything outside, so there is just a group of people moving strangely. From the inside - the simple pleasure of moving in an open space in your "dance tribe".
People gather, make playlists from applications, discuss different options for walks, synchronize in time with different cities ... In general, this is a small distributed life of a simple idea that a simple walk around the city can become a dance holiday.
Extreme mob
Stocks with a pronounced extreme focus. Some moral principles may be violated (or even actions qualifying as petty hooliganism), or even somehow provoke bystanders. Such promotions do not comply with the rules of the flash mob. For example, the pillow fight.
L-mob
Also widely known is the Internet mob "Regularly!" The site published an article "Colognes Kill Russians", which stated that most Russian alcoholics who died in working age drank alcohol that was not intended for consumption, and outlined research findings on this matter. There was a poll for the article: "Do you drink cologne, antifreeze or detergents?" - with options for answers:
- Regularly
- Rarely
- Never
- I do not drink at all
Most of the readers were amused and even offended by this question. As a result, about 90% of the votes were cast for the "Regularly" option. Due to the fact that the counter was not designed for such a number of votes, it was reset several times a day. Many cartoons and even comics have been created on this topic. In some cities, a real flash mob "Cologne" was even played, when mobbers, in front of a large crowd of people, pretended to taste colognes, shampoos, and glass washing liquids. In fact, there were drinking liquids in the bottles: drinks (Tarhun, Lemonade), instead of shampoos, there was yogurt, etc.
At the same time, Internet mobs are often made by the site owners themselves to increase traffic to their resources. Among web designers, the word “flash mob” has even appeared for this way of attracting visitors.
Politmob, sociomob
These are actions with a social or political connotation. They are an easier, faster and safer way of expressing public opinion or drawing attention to certain problems than rallies and demonstrations.
For example, after the elections in Belarus in 2006, a number of such actions took place. Several people gathered in the center of Minsk, opened the newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussia and began to tear it into small pieces. In another similar action, about 30 Minsk residents defiantly blindfolded and turned away from the screen installed on the square, on which the speech of the prosecutor of Belarus was broadcast. At the peak of popularity in April 2006, "political flash mobs" in Minsk gathered up to 100-120 people. In order to suppress such actions, the authorities adhered to the tactics of detaining 10 to 20 people, which within 2 weeks reduced the number of participants in flash mobs to 15-20 people. An example of a political mob that took place in Tomsk:
All comers at 12.00 on June 28 come to the building of the Duma of Tomsk and throw change at it in protest at the increase in the fare in minibuses. Thus, the townspeople will be able to give money to the people's deputies so that they can collect it in their insatiable pockets and stop robbing their poor townspeople in the future.
On October 7, 2011, Russian Twitter users celebrated the 59th anniversary of President Putin with a massive poetic flash mob. The couplets written during the flash mob were far from welcoming and not congratulatory, but more or less kept within the framework of correctness (that is, they did not violate Russian laws).
Flash mobs against homophobia and for human rights against gays and lesbians have also become famous - the rainbow flash mob and the Kiss in flash mob.
Advertising flash mob
Often, flash mobs are organized to draw attention to certain brands, but without making advertising in its pure form. Instant crowds, timed to coincide with the release of feature films of a particular product or promoting brands, have become common in major cities. So in cinemas before the release of the third part of the film "Men in Black" there were flash mobs with the participation of people dressed in black suits. The playground in front of the Olimpiyskiy sports complex has become a favorite place for carrying out flash mobs. For example, GetTaxi organized a flash mob to attract attention to itself in Moscow.
Stock scenarios
The ideal scenario should be absurd, cryptic, not very noticeable, and in no way laughable. Mobbers should not violate laws and moral principles. Actions should seem meaningless to casual viewers, but performed as if it makes sense. As a result, random viewers, the so-called fomichi, take what is happening seriously, as if there is some meaning in the situation being played out that they are trying to find. They develop a sense of interest, anxiety, misunderstanding, or even a sense of their own insanity. The script should not cross the line beyond which it already becomes funny, but this is extremely rare.
Sample scripts
"Fading"
At a certain moment in a certain place the mobbers freeze abruptly, as if time had stopped. In a frozen state, they stand for three minutes, after which they take a break for a few seconds and again freeze for three minutes. After that, everyone disperses at the same time in different directions.
"Battery"
At a certain time in a certain place in the city, a "lighthouse" takes place. Suddenly, his movements become slower, like a robot that has "run out of battery", his powers fade away, and he falls, pretending to fall asleep (or becomes "recharging"). This serves as a signal by which the rest of the mobbers repeat after him an imitation of the loss of vitality, in the end falling into "hibernation" for exactly two minutes, counting the seconds to themselves. At the end of two minutes, the classic finale follows - the mobbers disperse in different directions, as if nothing had happened.
With a creative approach to this scenario, you can "turn off" slowly, quickly, or on the go, you can just stand with your head bowed. They play as if the battery is slowly running out inside. You can fall completely on the asphalt, you can sit on your knee, you can "fall asleep" while standing. The main thing is to surprise others. Well, it is logical that if the "battery runs out", then the eyes are closed.
"Look to the sky"
People gather, at a certain time, binoculars / telescopes / rolled-up newspapers are taken out of their pockets / bags / briefcases and their gazes rush to the sky. After 5-10 minutes, everything collapses and the people go about their business, leaving passers-by, in bewilderment trying to find something unusual in the sky.
Criticism
Flash mob is often criticized. When the first flash mobs rolled around, many politicians did not understand its essence and gave it a political connotation, although the ideology of the flash mob says that "Flash mob is outside politics and economics." There have been statements that this is "Western foolishness", although it is in the CIS countries that the ideological component of the flash mob has especially developed.
Most critics consider it pointless. Although many psychologists are supportive of the phenomenon of flash mob, since it (to a certain extent) has a beneficial effect on the psychological state of participants, helps participants lose their constraint, fear of public opinion, develops the ability to self-organize, makes it possible to meet like-minded people and brings diversity to life.
Flash mob as a tactic of organized crime
Other critics point out that the flash mob creates a sense of permissiveness, which can provoke its participants to gang hooliganism. The National Retail Federation (USA) classifies such actions as a "crime with many offenders" in which "flash mob tactics" are used.
Mark Leary, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, said that most episodes of "flash mob banditry" involve violent crimes, the use of which is not typical of the everyday life of many of those who committed such acts during a flash mob, probably that a suddenly emerging organized group aimed at committing criminal activity acted as a provoking factor for those: they cannot be identified. "
Dr. Linda Keels draws parallels between flash mob banditry and the payback movement: "As the prevalence of social media increases, the likelihood of flash mobs being used for political and criminal purposes will increase."
Legislative restrictions and prohibition
In the city of Braunschweig, Germany, they were able to stop the conduct of flash mobs by prescribing strict compliance with the already existing law requiring permission to use any public space for holding group actions. In the United Kingdom, a number of flash mobs have been banned due to the threat they pose to public health and safety. , in which he describes how instant teleportation allowed huge numbers of people to appear almost instantly anywhere in the world where action worthy of attention takes place. The crowd on the scene appeared immediately after the information about the event was published in ", in order to rescue the daughter of a millionaire taken hostage, the hero - an Internet advertiser - organizes a dozen flash mobs of various topics in the port at once, as a result of which he becomes the center of attention of the press ...
What is a flash mob? Not everyone manages to witness a flash mob.
But those who find themselves in the whirlpool of the event are unlikely to easily forget or pass by. What is a flash mob and who needs it?
Imagine that you are walking along the central city square and you see a hundred or two people who are strangers to each other. They seem to be in a hurry on business, sitting on benches or taking pictures.
But suddenly the clock strikes noon - and all these random passers-by begin to perform the same actions - shouting, kissing, falling dead, freezing with "dummies", dancing a rehearsed "jigu-jigu".
Five minutes - and everyone goes their separate ways, as if nothing had happened.
This is a flash mob - a spontaneous, spontaneous mass event in which strangers participate, which begins and ends unexpectedly for others and proceeds according to a previously agreed-upon scenario.
This action does not have any selfish purpose, neither advertising nor political. It has nothing to do with PR campaigns and protests.
Nobody, except the participants themselves, knows about the flash mob: you will not see any announcements in the newspaper about the upcoming fun.
The word flashmob can be translated as "crowd flash" or "instant gathering." Fans of this entertainment have a whole movement, they call themselves flash mobbers and actively participate in mass performances.
What is their purpose? Just have fun, get away from the gray everyday life and spend some free time.
The movement has its own slang. So, casual onlookers are called "fomichs", "agents" give instructions, "mob" is the actual performance. "Aftepati" (simply "postmobe") - a meeting of satisfied participants, "debriefing" and making plans.
Despite the daunting terminology, flash mobbers are not to be feared. Their actions are completely peaceful, do no harm and do not offend anyone.
The movement has its own laws. None of the fans of the flash mob will approve of a scenario that challenges moral and ethical issues.
They will never advocate violence, racism or drugs, or invade political and economic disputes.
You need to be a good actor to fit into their ranks. It's not easy not to laugh out loud during an ethnic tambourine dance performed by a thousand people! The more absurd the scenario, the more serious the faces should be.
Why do people go to a flash mob
Certainly not for the sake of money - this event does not involve payment. Someone wants to test himself (“is it not weak for me to be liberated and commit a great stupidity in public?”).
Others in this way protest against conservative norms and strict public opinion.
Other motives include getting adrenaline, looking for your own freedom and a desire to join a large common cause.
If you deal with the psychological background of this game, you will notice: the goal of mobbers is to show a different picture of the world, full of chaos, spontaneity and oddities.
Make casual spectators blink, wake up, wake up and feel how "the mind starts to move," and the head goes off the rails.
At the same time, the faces of the participants are impenetrable, they behave as if it is completely normal to pick up and sing "Ave Maria" in the middle of a public library. It's no wonder to think about "attack of the clones" and alien abductions!
Such is the flash mob.
In the youth environment, this concept has long been known, although it has existed for only a dozen years. But representatives of the older generation do not always understand what, in fact, they are talking about. So, what is flash mob?
A bit of history
"Flash mob" is an English word, or rather, a combination of words: "flash" - "lightning, flash, instant" and "mob" - "group of people, company, crowd". Actually, for the first time, the American science fiction writer created a story about cheap teleportation in the future, who first combined these two concepts - "instant" and "crowd". True, his term sounded like "flash crowd".
In 2002, a book was published by the American sociologist Howard Reingold, who predicted that in the 21st century people would unite to conduct mass actions using the growing capabilities of information technology. These structured, cultured groups are called smart mob, or smart crowd. But what about the flash mob?
What it is?
Today, this term is understood as a mass action in which a group of people, often unfamiliar with each other, takes part. They gather in a designated place, behave in a certain way for a given period of time, and then quickly (instantly) disperse, as if dissolving into the crowd of spectators, as if nothing had happened.
Flash mobs are organized through electronic means such as cell phones or the Internet. Participants, called mobbers, post news about the place, time and topic of the upcoming event on blogs, on social media pages or on a specially created Internet site. Sometimes e-mail or SMS is also used.
Pioneers
The official date of birth of the flash mob is June 17, 2003. It was on this day that about one and a half hundred people gathered near an expensive carpet in the largest department store in the world - New York's Macy’s - and explained to the sellers that they lived in a commune on the outskirts of the metropolis, in a warehouse, and would like to buy the Love Carpet.
The success of the project was so high that it swept like a tsunami across America, Europe and other continents. Mobbers applauded for 15 seconds in the lobby of the Hyatt, posing as tourists at a shoe store in Soho. The organizer of the first American actions was Bill Wazick, editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine. He considered them a funny act, making fun of the party-goers. However, the flashmob began its triumphant march across the planet.
The first European action took place on July 24 of the same year in Rome. Three hundred people gathered in the bookstore, demanding from the sellers for books with non-existent titles. On August 16, 2003, the first flash mobs took place in Russia and Ukraine.
Predecessors
But is this really a new phenomenon - a flash mob? What is this - a sign of the XXI century or a well-forgotten old one? Experts believe that similar actions have taken place before: organized groups of people traveled without pants in the subway, gathered from different regions of the country for a bicycle ride, instantly "froze" at the New York station, frozen in various positions. However, only nowadays flash mob has become a truly massive action. For example, more than 20 thousand people took part in one of the actions in Chicago in 2009. Today, the terminology and rules of this movement have been developed, its name has firmly settled in academic editions of dictionaries and the media.
Target
The purpose of each action depends on its type. Usually they are organized for the spontaneous entertainment of the participants and bewilderment of passers-by: people dance en masse, sing, lie on the floor of supermarkets, dress up in style costumes, hug passers-by, participate in pillow fights, freeze, looking at the sky, and launch Chinese lanterns. But some actions are carried out for political or commercial purposes.
The best flash mobs are absurd, mysterious, look spontaneous, confuse and even shock casual viewers. Watch the great movie Step Up 4. These are 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.
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