# Flash Mob

Flash Mob is a coordinated public gathering where strangers meet at a set time and place through digital invites, perform a brief and often absurd act, then quickly disperse. The format was invented by Harper's Magazine editor Bill Wasik in 2003 as a social experiment about hipster conformity, starting with a 'love rug' stunt at a Manhattan Macy's and spreading worldwide within months.

## Overview
Flash Mob refers to an ad-hoc public gathering organized through digital channels where participants meet at a specific location to perform a brief, often silly act before scattering[1]. The core appeal sits in the disconnect between the crowd's coordinated behavior and the confusion of bystanders who have no idea what is happening, with early events including a hunt for a nonexistent 'love rug' at Macy's and 40 Berliners shouting 'yes, yes!' into their mobile phones on a busy street[6].

The format sits at the intersection of participatory art, street theater, and a live demonstration of what mass digital coordination can pull off in a shared physical space[1]. What sets a flash mob apart from a normal protest or gig is the lack of an obvious message and the speed of dispersal, with most events wrapping in a few minutes[3]. The mob itself is usually strangers, brought together by a single set of instructions and united only by a willingness to look silly in public[7].

## How It Spread
The Macy's rug stunt was picked up by local news, national programs, and blogs within weeks, and Wasik ran a wave of follow-up events in New York including 500 people who cowered under the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex at the Toys R Us in Times Square[1]. The first European flash mob happened in Rome on July 24, 2003, when about 300 people flooded a music and bookshop asking for titles that did not exist[6]. Berlin followed on August 1, 2003, with 40 people pulling out their mobile phones on a busy street, shouting 'yes, yes!' and then applauding before walking off[6].

Additional mobs were planned across London, Amsterdam, Dublin, Zurich, and Vienna over August 2003, and the format had already jumped to Australia and Singapore by the time CNN filed its own report[6]. Wasik later called the season's craze finished before the end of that same year, in keeping with the short-lived fads he was trying to mock[1].

YouTube, which launched in 2005, kicked the format into a second life where the recorded video became the point rather than the in-person surprise[2]. Improv Everywhere's 'Frozen Grand Central' event in 2008, with more than 200 participants holding a still pose in the station's main concourse at a set cue, was one of the first flash mobs to go massively viral as an edited video[3]. T-Mobile's choreographed dance at London's Liverpool Street station on January 15, 2009 pulled about 400 performers into a routine that later ran as an ad and racked up more than 18 million YouTube views[5].

## How to Use
A typical flash mob involves picking a public place with heavy foot traffic, distributing precise time and instructions through email, text, or a private forum to participants who often do not know each other, then executing a short bit before scattering[6]. Common conventions include the 'freeze', where every participant holds a still pose at a set cue, plus the pillow fight, synchronized applause, and the choreographed dance number set to a pop song[4]. Organizers often keep the exact action secret until minutes before the event, both to preserve surprise for bystanders and to keep the group's own reaction genuine on camera[7].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Flash Mob?
A flash mob is a group of people organized through digital channels who gather in a public place at a set time to perform a brief and usually whimsical act, then quickly disperse[8].

### Where did Flash Mob come from?
Bill Wasik, a senior editor at Harper's Magazine, invented the format in New York in 2003 and staged the first successful mob at Macy's in Manhattan on June 17, 2003[1].

### What does Flash Mob mean?
The term describes a sudden, coordinated public gathering, first used in a June 2003 blog post by Sean Savage to label the 'inexplicable mobs' Wasik was running in New York[4].

### How do you use Flash Mob?
Pick a public place, send participants a private message with a time and a short action to perform in unison, execute for a few minutes, and disperse before onlookers work out what happened[6].

### Is Flash Mob still popular?
The 2003-era craze was declared over by Wasik himself before that year was out, though the format lived on into the YouTube era through viral corporate stunts like T-Mobile's 2009 Liverpool Street dance[1][5].

### Why did Bill Wasik create the flash mob?
He described it as a social experiment to lampoon hipster conformity and the endless hunt for the next big thing, offering a next big thing that was intentionally about nothing[1].

### What was the first flash mob?
More than 100 people gathered on the ninth floor of Macy's in Manhattan on June 17, 2003 and told salespeople they were shopping for a 'love rug' for their commune[1][6].

### What is Improv Everywhere?
Improv Everywhere is Charlie Todd's participatory comedy group, founded in 2002, that ran widely watched flash mobs including 'No Pants Subway Ride' and the 200-plus person 'Frozen Grand Central' event in 2008[4].

### What is a flash rob?
A flash rob is a criminal application of the format, first reported in April 2011 when about 20 coordinated people walked into a boutique in Washington D.C.'s Dupont Circle and left with roughly $20,000 in stock[4].

### How did flash mobs go corporate?
T-Mobile's January 15, 2009 dance routine at London's Liverpool Street station involved about 400 performers and drew over 18 million YouTube views, prompting a wave of brand-sponsored copies[5].

## References
1. [https://elephant.art/crowd-and-proud-the-history-of-the-flash-mob-20042022/](<https://elephant.art/crowd-and-proud-the-history-of-the-flash-mob-20042022/>)
2. [https://festivaltopia.com/flash-mobs-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-global-phenomenon-3/](<https://festivaltopia.com/flash-mobs-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-global-phenomenon-3/>)
3. [https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/communication-and-mass-media/flash-mobs](<https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/communication-and-mass-media/flash-mobs>)
4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/flash-mob](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/flash-mob>)
5. [https://theweek.com/articles/495701/evolution-flash-mob](<https://theweek.com/articles/495701/evolution-flash-mob>)
6. [https://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/](<https://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/>)
7. [https://flashmobbers.au/about-flashmobs/the-history-of-flashmobs/](<https://flashmobbers.au/about-flashmobs/the-history-of-flashmobs/>)
8. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flash%20Mob](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flash%20Mob>)

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