Flashmobs
“Margarethe Muller, emerging from a nearby department store, sensed that something was happening. She just wasn’t sure what”. — New York Times, 8/4/03
Flashmobs, still in their incubator stage, have the potential to progress the shift of power and lead to true social change. Their absurd nature helps them move under the radar as they evolve into a general forum for freedom of expression and individual empowerment. Flashmobs envelop individuals in a crowd that expresses itself in an unconventional way, not easily quantified or explained. Much like the Daily Show is given latitude because it is on a comedy channel, or an animated series can be offensive because it is a cartoon, the absurd actions of the Flashmob mask their true potential. What’s the harm of a thousand people simultaneously eating a banana?
The strength of Flashmobs lies in their decentralized power structure and their speed. Leveraging email and cell phone technologies, Flashmobs have an unprecedented time to action and element of surprise. Interestingly, Flashmobs have emerged at the same time as the popularity of distributed mesh networks. As power clamps down on freedom of expression and dissent, whether it is our president or the MPAA, systems evolve and disperse to protect themselves and their beliefs. Correctly avoiding centralization flashmob.info, mentioned in the New York Times article, is an unregistered domain. Other sites like flashmob.com and flashmobs.info dilute the strength of the Flashmobs phenomenon by centralization. Everyone wants their street cred but they forget the revolution will not be televised.
A current weakness of Flashmobs is the taking up of physical space. With the element of surprise, a mob may have achieved its goal of expression, but the mob is collectively in a space and must follow the laws of physics. Understandably, creating a crowd and confusion for a physical “denial of service” attack may be the Flashmob’s goal, but the Flashmob is that much more powerful when both the initiators and participants are distributed. Flashmobs where everyone jumps up in their own individual space at a predefined time to physically move the earth are heading in the right direction. As the type and robustness of available mediums for the message to be transmitted evolve, Flashmobs will become an empowering balance to centralized authority.
Direction:
Flashmobs can adapt to any new technology which supports a decentralized approach for expression. If TV-B-Gone was on everyone’s keychain, a flash mob could disperse and turn off every television in a city.
Related Links:
New York Times: Berlin Journal; What: Mob Scene. Who: Strangers. Point: None.
Interview with “Bill”
Wikipedia Flashmobs Entry
