http://www.nyclondon.com/london-flashmob

The 'flash mob' idea has been doing the rounds for a while now and is catching on quickly like a kind of virus.

Journalists in particular seem fascinated by the phenomena, with several wondering if Flash Mobs are in fact some sort of radical new movement.

Flash Mobs are seemingly unplanned gatherings of large groups of people that quickly converge in public (or semipublic) places for brief periods of time - often engaging in seemingly daft pointless activities, such as making bird noises or twirling around on the spot.

Members of a Flash Mob simultaneously converge to form the Mob, perform their task, and then quickly disperse again at a given time, departing in different directions.

While some claim that it is a form of situationist comment on the high levels of surveillance in our society, others accuse it of being simply a pointless technology inspired, bourgeoise display of childishness bordering on stupidity. Participants however say it's.... quote: "just for fun"

As journalists continue to try and figure if there is any political subtext, many others have commented that the Flash Mob craze is simply the same tactic as used, time and time again, by political protestors at demonstrations, from reclaim the streets parties, to summit spectaculars.... but without the political focus.

In an exclusive undercover covert investigation, our reporters uncovered a growing network of Flash Mob cells across the country with new Mobs discovered in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield...

Is the smell of guerilla marketing, overpowering the love, kids?

for more on this check out:  http://flashmob.co.uk
 http://www.geocities.com/londonmobs/

and in da meeja:

Pointless but fun? Flashmob phenomenon reaches UK
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1014598,00.html
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1013317,00.html

Smart mob storms London
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3134559.stm
Video:
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39378000/rm/_39378985_mobbing13_dhariwal_vi.ram

Britain's first Flashmob brings chaos to London's West End
 http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10925

The redeeming feature of the soho was the sight of dozens of journalists, clearly each thinking he or she was on to some really niche bit of breaking news, approaching one another saying "could i interview you... oh, you're a hack as well?" and walking disconsolately away. They ended up scrapping over the two or three people there who *weren't* from the media, to find out what motivated them...

To the criticism that flash mobbing is "a pointless technology inspired, bourgeoise display of childishness bordering on stupidity", well, the stupidity is shown by the media and the authorities. Apparently, the police in some US cities are so worried about it they are planning to use the "full force of the law" to prevent these gatherings. That means that flash mobbers are likely to be treated like protestors - ie tear gas, riot police, beatings, anti-terrorist arrests, etc. OK, so the London event was handy free advertising for Sofas UK, but if collective bizarreness attracts the unwanted attention of the police, then it will speak volumes about the authoritarian desire to regulate behaviour. If the police don't act violently, at least it's a bit of fun and gives those poor hacks something to write about in a time of news drought.

It's certainly something to inspire the anti-capitalist movement. Flock to a place, do something bizarre to attract attention to something or other and dissipate. Could this be a model for the next May Day?

Sounds like a FakeMob. Lots of people in the same place, but without any of the social connection or shared puorpose & identity that would make up a real mob or crowd. These things sound intriguing at first, but I suspect that if I was to actually attend one I'd get very little more from it than by reading about it.

Perhaps it would be worth going to these things and suggesting to people that they might like to join a real mob in future, such as one to stop the DSEi arms fair.

"THE WHOLE LIFE of those societies in which modern conditions of production prevail presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. All that once was directly lived has become mere representation."

...


"THE REIGNING ECONOMIC system is founded on isolation; at the same time it is a circular process designed to produce isolation. Isolation underpins technology, and technology isolates in its turn; all goods proposed by the spectacular system, from cars to televisions, also serve as weapons for that system as it strives to reinforce the isolation of "the lonely crowd." The spectacle is continually rediscovering its own basic assumptions — and each time in a more concrete manner."

From 'The Society of the Spectacle' by Guy Debord

I find it quite amusing to read the serious, important-sounding analytical commentaries people post on the phenomenon of flashmobs. Were I in a place where such events take place I would certainly enjoy participating in one for the sheer ridiculous, pointless fun of partaking in a semi-organized, bizarre, harmless group activity. I get the sense that everyone joining the mobs feels this way. Remember FUN? When the pundits start making their important comments it is, in a rather Fellini-esque way, an inevitable continuation of the absurd.