Flash Mobs Take Manhattan!

[zakur]

Flash Mobs Take Manhattan

Our senior Manhattan correspondent David Danzig reports that New Yorkers are using e-mail to coordinate "inexplicable mobs" — huge crowds that materialize in public places and suddenly dissipate 10 minutes later.

National Public Radio's "The Next Big Thing" briefly covered the first such mob — here's that coverage in RealAudio format.

Photos of the June 17 Manhattan Flash Mob at Macy's rug department.

 

[uneasy]

It seems like I shouldn't, but I like it.

I believe sci fi writer Larry Niven predicted this in another way. In his worlds where people can teleport around like dialing the phone, huge crowds would suddenly appear when everyone teleported to one place to see what was going on.

 

[ManfredVonRichthoffen]

I am very dissapointed that there is no flashing involved.

 

[Psi Baba]

About 15 years ago, a friend and I had this idea that when a new album came out that we knew most of the people in our circle would probably eventually buy, that we all get together, go to the same store, and all buy the album at the same time. We never did it, but we imagined it would might a store manager calling distributors or whatever warning them that this album was selling phenomenally and they better send more, perhaps setting off a cascade of communications that would have people believing something weird was going on. I could never decide if it would have been better to have everyone in the store at the same time, or have them go in one at a time, letting a several minutes pass between customers.

 

[zakur]

It seems like I shouldn't, but I like it.

I believe sci fi writer Larry Niven predicted this in another way. In his worlds where people can teleport around like dialing the phone, huge crowds would suddenly appear when everyone teleported to one place to see what was going on.

Yup. "Flash Crowd," ©1973 (originally published in Three Trips in Time and Space, edited by Robert Silverberg).

The term 'Flash Crowd' was used in the early days of the Internet to describe exponential spikes in website or server usage when one passes a certain threshold of popular interest. Today, though, most people refer to this as the 'Slashdot effect.'

Sorta like the whole Ghost in a Jar fiasco on eBay a few weeks ago.

 

[Soapy Sam]

I wonder why a reporter would use the term "inexplicable" of a phenomenon he had just explained.

 

[chapka]

Yes, some friends of mine are involved in this, although I haven't been to one yet. Here are the instructions I received:

You are invited to take part in MOB, the project that
creates an inexplicable mob of people in New York City
for ten minutes or less. Please forward this to other
people you know who might like to join.

FAQ

Q. Why would I want to join an inexplicable mob?

A. Tons of other people are doing it.

INSTRUCTIONS - MOB #1
Location: Claire's Accessories (Broadway between 8th
and 9th Sts.)
Start Time: Tuesday, June 3rd, 7:24 pm
Duration: 7 minutes

1) At some point during the day on June 3rd,
synchronize your watch to
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Ea...d/-5/java/java.
(If that site doesn't work for you, try
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5.) If you
have a digital watch, or a cell phone with an alarm,
please set it to beep at 7:31 pm.

(2) The mob should form at precisely 7:24 and not
beforehand. As such, we will need to divide evenly
among the paths by which the site can be approached.
Based on the month of your birth, please walk toward
the site as follows:
- January or July: up Broadway from the south
- February or August: down Broadway from the north
- March or September: 8th St. from the east (Astor
Place)
- April or October: 8th St. from the west (NYU)
- May or November: 9th St. from the east
- June or December: 9th St. from the west

By 7:20 pm, please position yourself on the street or
in a store one to two blocks away from the site. Begin
walking toward the site at 7:22. NO ONE SHOULD ARRIVE
AT THE SITE BEFORE 7:23.

(3) At 7:24, you should arrive at Claire's Accessories
and enter in an orderly fashion. Walk to the back of
the store so others can enter. Look at merchandise. If
the store is already full, or if you are turned away
at the door, mass around the front of the store,
facing its window. You will see people you know, but
please keep chatter to a minimum.

(4) If you are approached by a salesperson, say you
are "just looking." If you are asked why you came, say
that you "heard a mob was going to be here." If you
are stuck outside, you can yell or chant, or not,
depending on the vibe. (Possible chants: "[clap clap]
Acc-ess [clap clap] o-ries"; or, simply, "Mob.")

(5) At 7:31, when the alarms begin to beep, the mob
should disperse. Walk away from the site as fast as
possible, in as many directions as possible. NO ONE
SHOULD REMAIN AT THE SITE AFTER 7:33.

(6) Return to what you would otherwise have been
doing. Await instructions for MOB #2.

 

[Gideon S]

wow that's really cool.

 

[arcticpenguin]

You could use that to create distractions while you commit crimes and make your getaway.

 

[zakur]

If you are stuck outside, you can yell or chant, or not,
depending on the vibe. (Possible chants: "[clap clap]
Acc-ess [clap clap] o-ries"; or, simply, "Mob.")

Thanks, now I'm going to have that stupid '[clap clap] Acc-ess [clap clap] o-ries' chant in my head all day.

 

[zakur]

Boulder flash mob event is spoiled by the media:

Flash mob's Boulder debut fizzles; news media blamed

Spontaneity of event compromised, some say; about two dozen show

By Amy Hebert, Camera Staff Writer
August 14, 2003

Reporters and photographers nearly outnumbered the group of people who converged on the Pearl Street Mall for Boulder's first "flash mob" Wednesday evening.

About two dozen people gathered at 5:59 p.m. in front of the Boulder County Courthouse and pointed at the sky, yelling, "It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman."

The plan was to point at an empty sky, but hovering there was a Channel 4 news helicopter, eager to catch on video the trend that hit Colorado this week.

Flash mobs — the sudden appearance of a crowd of people who perform some bizarre, pre-assigned act, then disperse — have swept through New York, San Francisco and London, and hundreds of people joined Denver's first mob Monday.

But the Boulder debut's sparse showing disappointed participants and spectators alike, many of whom had read about the event on the front page of Wednesday's Daily Camera.

"This is supposed to seem like a spontaneous-seeming event, so if you have the media down here it doesn't work," said participant Christopher Downs, 22. "It's not really an underground thing when it's published in a media outlet."