If you see a group of people dancing and singing on the street or in the railway station, you don’t need to feel surprised. They are a flash mob. Who are they? Are they mobs2? Don’t be confused by their name. Actually, a flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, and then quickly disperse.3 They are usually organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks. The messages may be forwarded to friends, who forward to more people.4 At a predetermined time, they gather and perform some distraction such as exchanging books, coming together to look at the sky, waving their hands and yelling something at the top of their lungs for 30 seconds. Then, they quickly disperse before the police can arrive. Using mobile phones, the flash mob can change its venue if the first one has been compromised for any reason.5
Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine , organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May 2003 and the first successful flash mob assembled on June 3, 2003 (after the initial attempt at a flash mob was foiled) at Macy’s department store.6 More than one hundred people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of Macy’s department store, gathering aroundone particular very expensive rug.7 Following this flash mob, about 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about fifteen seconds, and next participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip invaded a shoe boutique in Soho.8 A later mob saw hundreds of people perched on a stone ledge in Central Park making bird noises.9
Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at hipsters, and highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity and of wanting to be an insider or part of “the next big thing”.10
The inexplicable nature and lack of apparent agenda seems to widen the appeal of flash mobs,11 the silly and harmless activities. Many Web logs, chat rooms and Web groups are devoted to the craze.12 Flash mobs started as pointless stunts,13 but the concept has already developed for the benefit of political and social agendas. Flash mobbing utilizes the efficiency of communicating information on Websites and by email, and protesters can similarly use the “on and off” concept to swarm political events.14
Flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock people. Such an activity might seem amusing and surreal15, but it also might frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place. Undoubtedly, flash mobs can serve as good political tools in any direction. They also have enormous economic potential, such as using flash mobs to advertise a product.
The flash mob is now becoming more and more popular. People use it to do many things. For example, in 2009, Michael Jackson’s fans took part in a flash mob to remember him. Hundreds of his fans gathered outside the railway station in Liverpool. They were singing and dancing Michael’s famous song “Beat It” together. And in another example, some people took part in a flash mob to tell more people not to use negative words. Flash mobs give people from all walks of life an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
Vocabulary
1. flash mob: 快閃族，指一群素昧平生的人通過網絡、手機短信等約定活動時間、主題和地點，然后一起做出夸張的舉動，這種活動的過程通常短到令旁人來不及反應。
2. mob: (成群的)暴民，亂民。
3. assembe: 聚集;disperse: 散開。
4. 短信可能是先發給朋友的，然后再由朋友傳遞給更多的人。
5. 通過使用手機，快閃族可以在不得已放棄第一個活動場所的情況下迅速更換場地。venne:(事件或活動的)發生地，舉辦地點。
6. initial: 最初的，最早的;foil: 挫敗，受到挫折。
7. converge: 匯集，匯聚;rug: 小塊地毯。
8. lobby: 門廳，大廳;mezzanine:(尤指介于一層與二層之間的)中層樓;synchronized: 同步的，同時的; boutique: (女士)時裝店，精品店。
9. 隨后的一場快閃是幾百人(像鳥一樣)棲息在中央公園突出來的一塊巖石上學鳥叫。perch: 棲息;ledge: 架狀突出物，巖石架;Central Park: 中央公園，號稱紐約的后花園，是紐約最大的都市公園。
10. Wasik聲稱他發明快閃是作為一種社會實驗，目的在于戲弄趕時髦的年輕人，并凸顯(大眾)一致性和渴望成為“下一個重大事件”的一部分或參與者的文化氛圍。poke fun at: 嘲笑，戲弄;hipster: 趕時髦的人;conformity: 一致，依照。
11. inexplicable: 無法解釋的，令人費解的;apparent: 明顯的;appeal: 吸引力。
12. 許多網絡日志、聊天室和小組都投入到這一場瘋狂中來。
13. stunt: 噱頭，驚人的表演。
14. 快閃利用了網站和電子郵件交流信息的便利，抗議者也同樣可以利用“開始和結束”這樣的概念來為政治事件聚集人群。utilize: 利用;protester: 抗議者，反對者;swarm: 云集，涌往。
15. surreal: 超現實的，離奇的。
