What is flashmobbing? Is it even a distinct phenomenon, and why haven't commercial and non-governmental bodies taken its potential more seriously? The first of a two-part special looks at the birth and spread of a surprising SMS trend...

By Deirdre Molloy

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When SMS first took off its rocketing popularity was entirely unpredicted by mobile phone manufacturers and network providers. A tool invented by Vodaphone for its engineers to report faults, text-messaging is now a global mass platform for peer-to-peer and B2C communications. The possibilities for marketing and other forms of commercial, retail, service and community building activity via SMS (and latterly MMS) have been researched and developed assiduously. But in 2003 another use for SMS materialised – flashmobbing. And this time, the results have been equally unforeseen.

So what is flashmobbing? Is it even a distinct phenomenon, and why haven’t commercial and non-governmental bodies taken its potential more seriously? The term is disputed and evolving as we speak. And flashmobs have been conducted by email lists as well as SMS, with further instructions sometimes issued in paper form on the scene.

In its brief history-to-date, two distinct groups of “flashmobbers” have emerged. The first group was embodied by the inaugural public flashmob held in Manhattan on 19 June 2003. Some 150 individuals gathered in Macy's rug department around a $10,000 carpet, declaring that they lived in a communal warehouse and were in the market for a 'love rug'. Ten minutes later they dispersed, leaving behind a very confused salesman.

Rome hosted Europe's first flashmob on 24 July 2003 with 300 mobsters descending on a bookshop to ask staff about titles that didn’t exist. Soon likeminded flashmobs struck across western cities. People were signing up to email and text services to burger-bomb David Blaine, pillow fight in Shoreditch, and even be a spontaneous supporting chorus at BBC3’s Flashmob The Opera held amid rush-hour Paddington Station.

Playground rules

The emphasis was on timing, secrecy, fun, and meticulous instructions. Events fitted the definition aired by multi-faith website Culturewatch: “flash mobbing involves the orchestrated formation of an apparently ‘spontaneous’ large crowd of people who congregate as if from nowhere, do something quirky or surreal, and then dissipate leaving the innocent bystander feeling that they have just witnessed something absurd and fantastical.” These assemblies performed a “random and obscure act” of “non-violent surrealism” said the August 2003 issue of Web User magazine.

Comments from organisers of the first wave of flashmobbing underlined this ethos. “It works because there is no ideological point behind it,” said Mister Zee, the man behind the inaugural London flashmob held on 7 August 2003 at Sofa World on Tottenham Court Road.

So far so spooftastical, then, but could flashmobbing be patented as the preserve of latter day Merry Pranksters, or ringfenced for thrill-seeking urbanites? If these were random acts of pointlessness, could the flashmob phenomenon go beyond what one Boston mobster termed “French revolution lite”? Or was there more to it than that from the very outset?

Turning the tables

One explanation saw the significance of flashmobbing springing from its purposeful use of new technologies. To date, while new tools and entertainments have been developed and doled out with increasing regularity, interactivity has been a sideshow, or geared to commercial and state-led ends. In turn, while much is made of user-led design and consumer-driven services, society is not commonly involved at a senior level in the production of its culture, no matter how many brand spies are scouring the high street or outer reaches of Mongolia in search of authentic new styles or trends.

Flashmobbing reverses the standard model of user-aware smart technology and joined-up content. This time it’s objective-aware “prosumers”, joined-up users bringing balance to the toy/tool equation and fashioning their own diversions. As such, stripping the playful flashmob of all social significance is a mistake, or just modesty-for-credibility’s-sake on the part of the organisers.

On 8 July 2004, the English Oxford Dictionary added 'flashmob' to its listings, alongside 'speed dating' and 'va-va-voom'. Momentum was now building and location-based textmobbing was the next branch of development as the Upoc system was unfurled and similar alternatives were investigated. The second wave of flashmobbers were about to touch down…

Part 2 of this article will be published on Thursday 13 January.

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Related links

Flashmob.co.uk

FlashBlaine.co.uk

Mobile Clubbing

FlashMob The Opera – BBC3

Culturewatch - flashmobbing article

Upoc - mobile community