A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.
The term, coined in 2003, 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. In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.
Read more about Flash Mob: Use of The Term, Crime
Famous quotes containing the words flash and/or mob:
“I think that in the swift white mind’s brain
Neurons flash images of a world
Undead and deathless, burgeoning again.
I think that Spring will come this way, unfurled.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“What if the Church and the State
Are the mob that howls at the door!
Wine shall run thick to the end,
Bread taste sour.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)