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Jacqueline Liu

Tis the season for flash mobs, you say? They're just getting started - 7 views

started by Jacqueline Liu on 16 Apr 11
  • Jacqueline Liu
    #1 Jacqueline Liu on 16 Apr 11
     
    Goodale (2010) tries to show how flash mobs fit in the conditions and circumstances of holiday environments. They help like-minded folk to gather on a holiday occasion, share fun and positive emotions, and celebrate Christmas. The author writes that the flash mob mentality is essentially about giving people a sense of belonging and an opportunity to join a crowd for fun (Goodale, 2010). Flash mobs contribute to the creation of an iconic image of holidays (Goodale, 2010). They celebrate common humanity and become more purposeful and sophisticated (Goodale, 2010). They merge with performance art and produce ideas with spontaneous turnout (Goodale, 2010).
    That flash mobs celebrate common humanity does not mean that they cannot be used as a tool of political action. Goodale (2010) recognises that the flash mob mentality can lead to the creation of refined political messages. As the digital tools of information dissemination are becoming more sophisticated, events similar to flash mobs may require political intervention and suppression at a global scale. However, it is difficult to imagine what kind of political action can restrain the rapid proliferation of communication, messages, and flash mobs. Also, it is not clear how future technologies will transform flash mobs and their political and aesthetic potential. Flash mobs can be short-lived but the consequences of their political action can affect the structure and direction of political relations for years ahead.

    Reference

    Goodale, G. (2010). 'Tis the season for flash mobs, you say? They're just getting started. Christian Science Monitor, 2. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1223/Tis-the-season-for-flash-mobs-you-say-They-re-just-getting-started
  • JoelMo Joel
    #2 JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11
     
    Hello Jacqueline.

    Indeed, this article is interesting and I agree with Goodale when she states that Flash Mobs are "common humanity" celebrations, as well as innovative tools for political protests. Actually, whatever their purpose is, they are innovative processes in that they use and rely on a virtual space of total freedom - freedom of speech, press and assembly - that are the characteristics and essence of Internet (Forte, 2010). Clay Shirky's talks about his "Here Comes Everybody" book (2008), which I have posted, support this idea as well.

    In the case of political protests, and this relates to several of my articles as well, they use these Internet characteristics to organise online and then act in and influence the offline world, where this freedom might not exist (Benschop, 2005, Kaza, 2009).

    And this links to your idea of events similar to flash mobs that may require political intervention and suppression at a global scale. Collaborative processes use by absolutely law-abiding citizens to organise Flash Mobs, can be reproduced by people with not so peaceful intentions (Connelly, 2010).

    The best example of this is the riots in Philadelphia that were assimilated to Flash Mobs because they were organised in the same way (Urbina, 2010). Elijah Anderson has written though that these events had "a quasi-carnival atmosphere" (Callari, 2010).

    Yet, Ron Callari argues that due to the ease of access and use of Internet to gather and coordinate online for actions that will occur offline in face-to-face and hand-to-hand interactions, social Medias are just the cause for such derives; they are just a conduit for communication within a large group of people in a very short time.

    More than an iconic image of holidays, Flash Mobs reveal themselves to be social indicators or benchmarks of society's health.

    References

    Dr. Benschop, A. (2005). "Flash Mob: Happening For Internetters", Sociosite's website. Accessible from http://www.sociosite.org/flashmob.php (accessed 14th April, 2011)

    Callari, R. (2010). Flash Mobs: From Social Media to 'Tsunami of Kids'. Accessible from http://inventorspot.com/articles/flash_mobs_social_media_tsunami_kids_39408 (accessed 16th April, 2011)

    Connelly, M. (2010). How the FlashMob Went From Art To Violence (With a Detour Through Politics). Accessible from http://www.motherboard.tv/2010/3/30/how-the-flashmob-went-from-art-to-violence-with-a-detour-through-politics--3 (accessed 16th April 2011)

    Forte, M. (2010). "Clay Shirky: 15 Points on the Web Revolution in Social Collaboration and Political Communication", Political Activism and the Web. Accessible from http://webography.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/clay-shirky-15-points-on-the-web-revolution-in-social-collaboration-and-political-communication (accessed on 11th April, 2011)

    Goodale, G. (2010). "Tis the season for flash mobs, you say? They're just getting started." Christian Science Monitor, 2. Accessible from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1223/Tis-the-season-for-flash-mobs-you-say-They-re-just-getting-started (accessed on 16th April, 2011)

    Kaza. J. (2009). "Political Flash Mob in Riga (videoblog)", Free Speech Emergency in Latvia. Accessible from http://freespeechlatvia.blogspot.com/2009/01/political-flash-mob-in-riga-videoblog.html (accessed on 15th April, 2011)

    Urbina, I. (2010). Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message, The New York Times. Accessible from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html (accessed on 15th April, 2011)

    Shirky, C. (2008). Talks on "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations". Accessible from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/berkmanat10/2008/02/shirky (accessed on 11th April 2011)

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