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Taraeta Nicholls

Dissolution and the Industry of Culture: The History of the Flash mob - Garland (2010) - 0 views

www.eatrva.org/...h%20Mob%20paper%20REVISION.pdf

NET308 FlashMobs VCU technology Wasnik Macy flux art

shared by Taraeta Nicholls on 18 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Taraeta Nicholls on 18 Apr 11
     
    This is an unpublished paper that has been linked to Maxter[1] an online community with links to the Media, Art & Text PhD program known as MATX. The MATX program is linked to the Virgina Commonwealth University (VCU) [2]. It would not be generally considered a reliable resource as a key article in an academic piece it is a well written piece including clear historical information into FlashMobs. Garland (2010) is able to use a recent event of students rioting to distinguish rioting organised via technology contrasted against the original FlashMob at Macy's in 2003. Garland (2010) has a focus on the original Macy's event as organised by Wasnik throughout the article. The question of why people are participating in FlashMob events is also considered. This paper also considers how cooperation and participation by individuals is implied when they participate in a FlashMob. The participation of a FlashMob allows individuals to remain anonymous through the free exchange of information, even the creator of the original FlashMob, Wasnik was able to remain anonymous. It was after FlashMob phenonomen became commericalized Wasnik felt comfortable revealing his identity and role in the original Macy's FlashMob. Throughout the article Garland (2010) draws connections between FlashMob and SmartMob, supporting and citing Rhinegold, agreeing that FlashMobs were part of SmartMobs. There is also an interesting connection drawn between FlashMobs and Flux Art [3]. Despite the article being unpublished key areas of FlashMob are clearly explored. Garland (2010) takes a wide approach to FlashMob and widely explores various aspects. There is a strong reliance on the experience of Wasnik in proving the differences between FlashMob, SmartMob and rioting organised through social media which is the main weakness of this article, which otherwise addressed the topic soundly. Footnotes [1] http://matxer.org [2] http://www.vcu.edu/ [3] http://www.fluxus.org/12345678910.html
Hans Dusink

T-Mobile and the Flash mob marketing phenonomen - 3 views

ethicalnag.org/...flash-mob

ouaNet308-2011 flashmobs marketing collaboration commercial

shared by Hans Dusink on 02 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Hans Dusink on 02 Apr 11
     
    The origin of flash mobs is credited to Bill Wasik who emailed friends in June 2003 to gather in the home furnishing department of Macy's in Manhattan. More than a 100 people began discussing whether to purchase a 'love rug' for their fictitious commune and then dispersed as quickly as it had formed (Hewitt, 2003). Flash mobs are defined in the Oxford dictionary as "a public gathering of complete strangers, organized via the Internet or mobile phone, who perform a pointless act and then disperse again" (Oxford University Press, 2011). Advertising agencies now utilise flash mobs to promote commercial products. This article discusses the Saatchi and Saatchi award winning T-Mobile advertisement "Life is for sharing" (posted to Youtube by jonjonbaker, 2009). Rather than focusing on how mobile phones and social media are used to organise a flash mob, the discussion here is about how this same media is used to create "viral traction - the ability to be widely forwarded to millions of viewers almost instantly" (Thomas, 2010). The advertisement itself shows bystanders utilising their mobile devices to share photos with their friends as well as ringing them to talk about the experience. As the title of the advertisement says "life is for sharing". Nick Burcher wrote in his blog Personal thoughts on the evolution of media and advertising that "advertisers are creating events to push user generated content coverage, a physical community made virtual. The event drives the Conversation, rather than the other way round as Wasik intended" (Burcher, 2009). Flash mobbing has become more than Wasik first imagined. On this case it has been utilised to raise brand awareness, but the same techniques can also be used to promote political opinions.
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  • Hans Dusink on 07 Apr 11
     
    Burcher, N. (2009, November 18). Flash mob evolution - even Microsoft stores are trying them now [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.nickburcher.com/2009/11/flash-mob-evolution-even-microsoft.html Hewitt, G.(2003). Flash Mobs - A New Social Phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.rense.com/general39/flashnmob.htm jonjonbaker. (2009, January 16). T-Mobile Advert "Life For Sharing". Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flash+mob&aq=0 Oxford University Press. (Ed.) (2011) Oxford Dictionary. Thomas, C. (2010, November 4). T-Mobile and the flash mob marketing phenomenonThe Ethical Nag: Marketing for the Easily Swayed [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://ethicalnag.org/2010/11/04/flash-mob/
  • Alan Beazley on 11 Apr 11
     
    Thanks you for sharing Hans, having reviewed the link and your response there appears to be many similarities between flash mobs and social-media facilitated, political protests. Much like the advertisers and marketers who drive flash mob, brand campaigns through new media, political demonstration organisers can also utilise the same tools to coordinate group activities activities and create spreadability of their cause - or as Thomas labels it 'traction' (Thomas, 2010). Examples in Thomas' article mention the flash mob video footage was uploaded to the popular video sharing site YouTube where it could be watched by potentially millions of web viewers. However, what the article fails to expand on is the stacking and interlinking of other social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Facebook. For instance, were other SNS used as a replacement of e-mail to recruit the flash mob participants? After the flash mob act was published on YouTube, what was the strategy to draw further attention to the video clip? Is the flash mob footage just one node in the brand campaigns overall web presence? The traction behind the 2011 Egypt revolution grew at exponential rates based on the stacking of social networking services and effective utilisation of network effects (Gustin, 2011). Demonstrators published events on Facebook, allowing organisers to gauge attendance. Invitations could also be issued and rapidly passed amongst social circles. The combination of footage being uploaded to YouTube and the millions of related conversations being published to Twitter clearly highlights the participatory culture of the web and its global reaching powers (Gustin, 2011). Gustin, S. (February 11, 2011). Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt's Revolutionary Firez: EPICENTER. Retrieved April 7, from http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/egypts-revolutionary-fire/ Thomas, C. (2010, November 4). T-Mobile and the flash mob marketing phenomenonThe Ethical
  • Taraeta Nicholls on 18 Apr 11
     
    Hans this is a very interesting article and ties in with the article I found by McGreer (2010) who discussed the business response to FlashMobs. Whilst two different approaches were used the one constant was the use of professional film crew to use the footage for uploading. The question McGreer raises is when it no longer has the artistic element, which Wasnik defines an event as a FlashMob, are commercial applications really FlashPerformances? McGreer, B. (2010). Give Them something to talk about. US Banker. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.
  • Taraeta Nicholls on 18 Apr 11
     
    Hans this is a very interesting article and ties in with the article I found by McGreer (2010) who discussed the business response to FlashMobs. Whilst two different approaches were used the one constant was the use of professional film crew to use the footage for uploading. The question McGreer raises is when it no longer has the artistic element, which Wasnik defines an event as a FlashMob, are commercial applications really FlashPerformances? McGreer, B. (2010). Give Them something to talk about. US Banker. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.
Hans Dusink

SWARM: Flash mobs, mobile clubbing and the city - Culture and Organization - 5 views

www.informaworld.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/...section

flash mobs swarm ouaNet308-2011 collaboration

shared by Hans Dusink on 06 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Hans Dusink on 07 Apr 11
     
    This article is based on the premise that cities are responsible for destroying social bonds and "rendering man isolated from, fearful of, hostile to, and manipulative of his fellow man" (Fischer as cited in Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010). It is this view that drives planners to create artificial structures in an attempt to have citizens involve themselves in community affairs. The authors use the example of Rotterdam where a there is a program of community forming (http://www.opzoomermee.nl) to show this idea that something needs to be done to create a sense of community. (2010, p. 213). The authors then look at how the unmanaged process of flash mobs may offer an alternative to the formal organisation structures of organisation in the city environment. They draw on the work of Jean Luc Nancy and suggest that flash mobs challenge the "traditional understanding of community through technology enabled organising" (Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010, p. 220). In fact through the use of the Internet, email and texting people are able to act together without giving up any of their individuality. In a magazine interview Bill Wasik, the instigator of flash mob said: The flash mob affords an opportunity for doing something and yet completely sidesteps the whole process of discussing how it is going to happen. It's just; 'Here's this opportunity, and if you agree with it, you can come in on it, and its going to be very quick' (Heaney, n.d) A flash mob becomes an ephemeral community; it is formed for a specific purpose and then disbands once that purpose has been fulfilled. It is a network structure rather than a traditional hierarchy and is based on a common interest.
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  • Hans Dusink on 14 Apr 11
     
    References: Heaney, F. (n.d). The Short Life of Flash Mobs. Stay Free! Retrieved from http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/24/flash-mobs-history.html Kaulingfreks, R., & Warren, S. (2010). SWARM: Flash Mobs, mobile clubbing and the city. Culture and Organization, 16(3), 211 - 227. doi:10.1080/14759551.2010.503498
  • Jocelyn Peucker on 14 Apr 11
     
    Professor Ruud Kaulingfreks, University of Leicester, School of Management (Kaulingfreks, n.d.) and Professor Samantha Warren, University of Essex - Essex Business School (Warren, n.d.) have written this paper titled, SWARM: Flash mobs, mobile clubbing and the city (Kaulingfreks and Warren, 2010). Both professors have written a number of articles on topics involving organisation and culture. As written above by Hans Dusink, "They draw on the work of Jean Luc Nancy and suggest that flash mobs challenge the "traditional understanding of community through technology enabled organising" (Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010, p. 220). In fact through the use of the Internet, email and texting people are able to act together without giving up any of their individuality" (Dusink, 2011). By understanding this, it can also be related to the petitioners that act through the Avaaz organisation. To sign up to the Avaaz community, only a name, an email, a country and postcode is required information. The name could be any name or even a nickname. Individual's identities are hidden from each other. Even though you can see the count of actions taken, it is impossible to know who did exactly what action. Concurrently, a hard-copy signed petition is not that much different. Which individual can verify every signature on a page and who is going to read through and check every written address one-by-one to ensure actual authenticity? Both Avaaz and flash mobs use digital interaction to let their members know what is happening and the location; however, Avaaz continues to exist after action is taken, moving onto new causes and plights whereas the basis of flash mobs is to 'flash' congregate then dissipate after their action. References: Avaaz.org. (2011).The World in Action. Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en Dusink, H. (2011). SWARM: Flash mobs, mobile clubbing and the city - Culture and Organizati
  • Taraeta Nicholls on 18 Apr 11
     
    This article was interesting as it also considered the impact of music in FlashMobs. Salmond (2010) in their article, "The Power of Momentary Communities" discusses how rave parties have similarities to FlashMob events through the creation of an instant community. Just as Salmond (2010) uses the rave party example Kaulingfreks & Warren (2010) have explored mobile clubbing, with individuals dancing to their music of choice. It should be noted that the lack of amplification, due to those listing to their individual songs may do so in a "silent disco" manner would allow such a gathering. Salmond (2010) raises the legality of events, at night time, with 100 or more people listening to amplified music. Mobile clubbing is supported by Salmond (2010) as more FlashMob as there is an artistic component which is key according to Wasnik. The comment of Jocelyn Peuker (2011) who introduces the Avaaz.org (2011) community highlights that there is a crossover between the SmartMob and the FlashMob. Avaaz facilitates with anonymity but could be considered a more SmartMob type of activity as those signing a petition are doing so in an asynchronous manner. With those signing the petition in with a desire for an outcome to be achieved, moving further away from the art aspect. Salmond (2010) argues that it is structure and organisation would allow one to consider Avaaz to be more SmartMob than FlashMob. As in many aspects of technology the exact line and distinction is hard to be drawn but notwithstanding this Avaaz is a facility service that would benefit both FlashMob and SmartMob events, whilst maintaining anonymity.
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