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[Please Note: This comment is in two parts due to Diigo restrictions on length] Topic: Flash Mobs This TED Talk is important to the topic of flash mobs because it highlights the fact that modern issues of global significance such as obesity, crime, good health, and creativity, are affected by the social connections that we all have. The rise of Internet usage through avenues such as social networks in the form of Facebook and other similar sites has been acknowledged as a vital factor that is also used by flash mobs when organizing their activities. The main point that can be taken into account through this TED Talk, is that if subconscious concepts such as obesity can claim influences from social networking, it should also follow that other more positive concepts such as philanthropy, will also be influenced by connecting with social networks. These social networks have a resilience that survives the test of time so it is of utmost importance to understand what the contributing factors are that sustain them. One important factor that was discovered was the power of emotion. Emotional "stampedes" and "collective existences" can be formed through social networks. They appear in clusters that can be delineated, for example, by "happy patches" and patches with other emotional characteristics. [Continued in the comment below]

Flash mobs utilise digital communications among social networks to mobilise a large group of people to appear in a set location. Many reading about flash mobs highlight the use of Internet communication but there have not been many references that refer to how the social network functions. Nicholas Christakis is a Harvard Professor of Medicine, Health Care Policy, and Sociology at Harvard University and he directs a diverse research group investigating social networks. "His work examines the biological, psychological, sociological, and mathematical rules that govern how we form these social networks, and the rules that govern how they shape our lives" (TED Conferences, 2010). Christakis gives three reason that people cluster but for flash mobs the most relevant is that people can share a common exposure to something (Christakis, 2010)and thus messages are spread to people of like mind, in turn pleading to a large crowd with everybody having a common purpose. Another important aspect to take from this is that networks are constantly changing in composition but the network still persists. Kaulingfreks and Warren would describe this as a rhizome that is "an ubiquitous connection between points in a structure but without a clear defined path…each node passing information to other nodes (2010, p. 221) . Christakis says " It is the ties between people that makes the whole greater than the sum of parts" (2010).For flash mobs and protest movements it is the power of the group that makes all the difference as has been demonstrated in political flash mobs and recent protests in Egypt, Iran and Tunisia. Christakis, N. (2010, February). The hidden influence of social networks TED Talks [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_of_social_networks.html Kaulingfreks, R., & Warren, S. (2010). SWARM: Flash Mobs, mobile clubbing and the city. Culture and Organization, 16(3), 211 - 227. doi:10.1080/14759551.

After watching this video on networks I started to consider the relevance of the internet informing networks and would the networks form in another way if social media tools were not available. Flash Mobs was organised on the internet and use internet tools to collaborate there next event. Could the same thing be achieved without the internet? My guess is yes it can be achieved without the internet. If we take the Egyptian Revolution and the claims that Facebook and Twitter were responsible for the organisation of the revolution some argue that this was not the case. The main body of the argument is that there been revolutions well before the internet (Rosen, 2011). Supports this argument however still recognises the role that social networks had played in the revolution(Beaumont, 2011). Pickwell, 2011 argues that many crowd gathering s such as revolutions and protest do not utilise the internet or social media to gather crowds. Pickwell claims they under utilise the tools the internet offered them. Considering that social media has a communication roll to play, you may also need to consider other factors used in creating the network. Christakis, 2011 presentation on networks gives you a better understanding as to how networks operate and why the above arguments have some merits. Beaumont, P. (2011). The truth about Twitter, Facebook and the uprisings in the Arab world. Retrieved 15th April 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/25/twitter-facebook-uprisings-arab-libya Christakis, N. (2010). The Hidden Influence of Social Networks. TED Talks. Filmed February 2010. Posted May 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from: http://blog.ted.com/2010/05/10/the_hidden_infl/ Pickwell, J. (2011). Lecture on the anti-war movement and Internet Collaboration and Organisation, net 308 iLectures: Curtin Unversity, Rosen, J. (2011). The "Twitter Can't Topple Dictators" Article. Retrieved 15th April 2011, from http://pressthink.org/2011/02/the-twitter-