flash mob
While there are a few groups who still carry on the practice, Improv Everywhere being the notable example, a high profile flash mob event is likely to have corporate backing, as companies jump on the bandwagon as part of viral marketing campaigns. [1]
Students and staff at Ohio State University recently uploaded the latest flash mob clip to YouTube and it has inspired us to share some of our favorite flash mob videos with you. [2]
Cool riff on this super famous flash mob. [3]
Perhaps inspired by a much earlier silent rave held at the Liverpool Street Station in London, mobile carrier T-Mobile organized this 350-person strong flash mob dance to promote its “Life’s for Sharing” campaign. [1]
The crowd dissipated after precisely 10 minutes. [4]
Cultural and political theorist Hans Magnus Enzensberger outlined an early gathering that took advantage of a glitch in the Swedish public telephone service. [5]
Supposedly it was the last flash mob in New York to be organized by “Bill,” the mysterious inventor of flash mobs. [6]
A year ago, T-Mobile jumped on the flash mob bandwagon and rocked Liverpool Street Station in the clip ‘The T-Mobile Dance’. [...] NBTY is looking for a Social Media Coordinator. [2]
The term is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts, that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals. [...] At various London Underground stations, people gathered with their portable music devices, and at a set time began dancing to their music. [5]
Social media has greatly aided the organization of such events, and proof of their existence has been caught on camera only to go viral online via sites like YouTube. [1]
The first is flash crowd, which I define as a sharp and often overwhelming increase in the number of users attempting to access a Web site simultaneously, usually in response to some event or announcement (see the Word Spy entry for this term to get a bit of background about its origins); the second is smart mob, the leaderless gathering and moving of like-minded people who are organized using technologies such as cell phones, e-mail, and the Web. [4]
Staying with the King of Pop theme, there’s a ton of flash mobs tribute videos on YouTube as fans mourned his passing, and celebrated his music with a series of flash mobs around the globe. [1]
Together, we have permanently altered the English language. [6]
Sources:
[1] 15 Fab Flash Mob Videos on YouTube
[2] Top 7 Flash Mobs Of All Time
[3] Flash Mobs
[4] The Word Spy: Flash Mob
[5] Flash mob - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] cheesebikini?: flash mobs Archives