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 (快闪族）. A flash mob, organized with the help of the Internet or other communications networks, is a group of people who come together suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a period of time, such as coming together to look at the sky, shouting something at the top of their voices for 30 seconds, and then quickly disappear before the police can arrive.
Using mobile phones, the flash mob can change its place if the first one has been replaced for any reason.
Bill Wasik, a senior editor, organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May, 2003 and the first successful flash mob came together on June 3,2003—after the first try was foiled at Macy's department store. Following this, about 200 people crowded into the hall of the Hyatt hotel, applauding (鼓掌) in one voice for fifteen seconds, and next the mob pretending (假装) to be tourists on a bus trip entered a shoe shop in Soho. Wasik said that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to make fun of hipsters (时尚潮人).
Though flash mobs were firstly regarded as pointless, the idea has already developed for the benefit of political (政治的) and social events. Flash mobbing takes advantage of the effect of communicating information on Websites and by email, and protesters (抗议者) can similarly use it to be involved in political events.
Flash mob gatherings can sometimes surprise people. Such an activity might seem amusing and fantastic, but it also might frighten people who are not clear about what is taking place. Undoubtedly, flash mobs can serve as good political tools in any direction. They also have big economic potential (经济潜力), 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.
Flash mobs give people an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
