In the youth environment, this concept has long been known, although it has existed for only a dozen years. But representatives of the older generation do not always understand what, in fact, they are talking about. So, what is a flash mob?
A bit of history
"Flash mob" is an English word, or rather, a combination of words: "flash" - "lightning, flash, instant" and "mob" - "a group of people, company, crowd". Actually, for the first time these two concepts - "instant" and "crowd" were connected by an American science fiction writer, who created in the 70s of the twentieth century a story about cheap teleportation in the future. True, his term sounded like "flash crowd".
In 2002, a book was published by the American sociologist Howard Reingold, who predicted that in the 21st century, people would unite to hold mass actions using the growing capabilities of information technology. These structured, culturally-behaving groups have been called "smart mob" - "smart crowd". But what about the flash mob?
What it is?
Today, this term is understood as a mass action in which a group of people, often strangers, takes part. They gather in a designated place, behave in a certain way for a given period of time, and then quickly (instantly) disperse, as if dissolving into the crowd of spectators, as if nothing had happened.
The organization of flash mobs is carried out through electronic means such as cell phones or the Internet. Participants, called mobbers, post news about the place, time and topic of the upcoming event on blogs, social media pages or a specially created Internet site. Sometimes e-mail or SMS is also used.
Pioneers
The official date of birth of the flash mob is June 17, 2003. It was on this day that about one and a half hundred people gathered near an expensive carpet in the largest department store in the world - New York's Macy’s - and explained to the sellers that they lived in a commune on the outskirts of the metropolis, in a warehouse, and would like to purchase the Love Carpet.
The project was so successful that it swept like a tsunami across America, Europe and other continents. Mobbers applauded for 15 seconds in the lobby of the Hyatt, posing as tourists at a shoe store in Soho. The organizer of the first American actions was Bill Wazick, editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine. He considered them a funny act, making fun of the party-goers. However, the flashmob began its triumphant march across the planet.
The first European action took place on July 24 of the same year in Rome. Three hundred people gathered in the bookstore, demanding from the sellers for books with non-existent titles. On August 16, 2003, the first flash mobs took place in Russia and Ukraine.
Predecessors
But is this a new phenomenon - a flash mob? What is this - a sign of the XXI century or a well-forgotten old one? Experts believe that similar actions have taken place before: organized groups of people traveled without pants in the subway, gathered from different regions of the country for a bicycle ride, instantly “froze” at the New York station, frozen in various positions. However, it is only in our days that flash mob has become a truly massive action. For example, in one of the actions in Chicago in 2009, more than 20 thousand people took part. Today, the terminology and rules of this movement have been developed, its name has firmly settled in the academic editions of dictionaries and the media.
goal
The purpose of each action depends on its type. Usually they are organized for the spontaneous entertainment of the participants and the bewilderment of passers-by: people dance en masse, sing, lie on the floor of supermarkets, dress up in style costumes, hug passers-by, participate in pillow fights, freeze, looking at the sky, and launch Chinese lanterns. But some actions are carried out for political or commercial purposes.
The best flash mobs are absurd, mysterious, look spontaneous, confuse and shock casual viewers. Watch the great movie Step Up 4. These are not just great mass dances. The picture will show you a real flash mob: what it is, how it is organized and what consequences it can have.
The beginning of the flash mobs began with the appearance in 2002 of a book by the famous writer Howard Reingold. In this book, the writer wanted to predict that in the future, modern technological accessories will serve not only as a means of entertainment and communication, but also as a means of self-organization of people.
The debut flash mob was organized on June 3, 2003 in New York, but due to the fact that the police knew everything in advance, they interfered with the holding of this event. But those wishing to hold the action did not despair and repeated their idea in two weeks. Only this time, each participant of the flash mob was informed about his time and location several hours before the deed. The action was attended by about 150-200 people. They came to a supermarket, surrounded an expensive carpet and began to talk about their life and their desire to buy a "carpet of attraction" now. After that, other countries also learned what a flash mob is.
A small digression into the history of creation
The largest flash mob was held in September 2009 in the city of Chicago. It was held at a celebrity concert during the start of a new stage of the show by the famous American presenter and actress. As the hip-hop music group performed their song, the audience gradually began to perform the same movements. Approximately 21 thousand people took part in this action.
In Russia, for the first time such an action was held on August 16, 2003 at the same time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The task of the activists was to meet passengers who arrived at the station. The participants had incomprehensible signs in their hands.
Flash mobs are prepared thanks to Internet sites. As a rule, in every part of the world, for convenience, there is one such resource. There is a variant of organizing an event through social networks, but these events are characterized by disorganization and incoherence of participants. All the nuances of the implementation of this event are published either on the web service itself, or sent by the organizer to each participant personally.
A prerequisite for events is their organization in places of the greatest concentration of people. Its members portray absolutely ignorance of each other. The event ends with the gradual removal of performers in opposite directions.
Types of shares:
- Classic flash mob. The purpose of this event is to amaze, not upset or amuse, the viewer.
- Non-spectral mob. Its purpose is to create a sense of insanity in the viewer. Participants of this flash mob perform everyday actions for each person (stumble, open a bottle of water and pour themselves over it, post up advertisements, try to button up a jacket, etc.).
- Art mob. Its purpose is to cause aesthetic pleasure among those who witness this event. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is difficult to find people who can draw beautifully, and without this skill, this flash mob is impossible.
An art mob was held in Chelyabinsk on September 14, 2008, during which the participants built a smiley face 80 meters in size. This emoticon was named "Chelyabinsk smiles at the world" and it entered the "Russian Book of Records".
Dance flash mob.
- Extreme mob. This type of flash mob is of the nature of petty hooliganism, it can cause aggression from passers-by, so it does not comply with the laws of a flash mob. An example of an extreme mob is a pillow fight.
- L-mob or long mob. It lasts for a week. Anyone involved performs a certain action where and when he wants. For example, for a week, the participants of the action outline the outline of any objects (bottles, benches, pieces of paper, trash cans) with chalk, and a week later the whole city will be outlined, which will certainly arouse the interest of residents.
- Stuffing. During this event, each of the participants forgets about their complexes, life principles and performs an action with the help of which he "breaks himself". For example, pouring ketchup on yourself, doing exercises on the street wearing only panties, breaking your phone with a hammer, etc.
We can conclude that thanks to such events, our life becomes brighter and much more interesting! "Don’t worry - be happy!"
Some time after the appearance of the concept of a flash mob, forms of its implementation and scenarios began to appear that did not correspond to the original rules of the action. A flash mob was called any action in which a specific number of people participate.
Common features of all such actions: surprise for the audience and the desire to do something together. Moreover, these flash mobs can be spontaneously organized: via the Internet and mobile communications.
Figure: 1. An example of a flash mob participant's action: a person stumbles
Figure: 2. An example of the actions of participants in a flash mob: a person tries to tie his shoelaces
Figure: 3. An example of the actions of the participants of the flash mob: a person sticks an ad on the wall
Therefore, a flash mob in its original version (as a planned action, the participants of which suddenly appear in a public place and for several minutes perform previously agreed actions of absurd content, after which they quickly disperse and pretend that nothing happened) is today called "classic."
Non-classical types of flash mob can be distinguished
1) actions that retain an entertaining and “disinterested” character (art mob, minced meat, etc.);
2) promotions that are fundamentally different from the classic flash mob (political flash mob, advertising flash mob, etc.).
The question remains - what type of flash mobs can be attributed, which, for example, are entertaining in nature, but organized according to all the rules of a flash mob, or in which there is no element of surprise (after all, all flash mobs are based on this principle).
Classic flash mob
The main goal of a classic flash mob is to surprise passers-by, but not create negativity, aggression or laughter. The goal is to create confusion. It's hard to stay on this edge. For example, some flash mobs are unsuccessful - the action of 2014 “Pour water over yourself” (in support of people with a rare disease of the nervous system), as it later turned out, was a failure for some participants. That is why the classic flash mob in its pure form is rare.
Classic flash mob options
Figure: 4. Flashmob "Crayons"
Figure: 5. An example of stuffing action: a person pours beer into the toilet
Figure: 6. An example of the actions of the stuffers: a person "floats" on the sidewalk wearing a mask and fins
Real flash mob ("non-spectacular" mob, "non-spectacular" mob, X-mob)
It is not the task of a real flash mob to surprise the audience. In the first place - the feelings of the mobbers themselves. Their actions are close to the usual, everyday. The goal is to evoke a whole spectrum of emotions in passers-by: from an increase in mood to a feeling of "madness" in order for the audience to feel the unreality of everything that happens.
Examples of actions of participants in a real flash mob
- stumble (fig. 1);
- check if there is a mobile phone in your pocket (get it out, put it back);
- light a cigarette from a lighter, turning your back to the wind;
- study the receipt at the entrance to the store, moving your lips, counting something in your mind and rolling your eyes;
- try to tie shoelaces (fig. 2);
- try to fasten / open the zipper on the jacket / fly / bag;
- shake off clothes;
- rewrite the phone from the advertisement;
- stick a notice on the wall / door / post (fig. 3);
- enthusiastically press the "keys" of the mobile phone on the go
- shake up the beer in the bottle, and then "accidentally", when opening, pour it over, etc.
Art-mob (mob-art)
Art mobs are actions that carry artistic and aesthetic values. As a result, such flash mobs are more difficult to organize than real ones, since mob-art is preceded by rehearsals, they have directors. Participants in the action use props. This type of action is aimed at entertainment. On September 14, 2008 an art mob "Chelyabinsk smiles at the world" was held in Chelyabinsk. Mobbers (from 3 to 6 thousand people) built an 80-meter "smile", which entered the Russian Book of Records as the largest in history. The action was filmed with video and cameras from a helicopter. The flash mob was detected by a Google satellite.
Dance flash mob
The scenario of the action, as a rule, is built as follows: mobbers hide in the crowd, one of them turns on the music, several people start dancing, then the rest join them.
The most unusual dance event is a flash mob in memory of Michael Jackson, which took place in one of the prisons in the Philippines in 2011. More than 1,500 prisoners simultaneously danced to Jackson's hits from the "Triller" album.
In Moscow, flash mob went to the All-Russian Exhibition Center (on the square in front of pavilion No. 57) August 29, 2009. It was timed to coincide with Michael's birthday (August 29, 1958). More than 300 mobbers in costumes of the living dead performed a dance to Jackson's "Thriller". The rehearsals took place over a month. The rally was attended by representatives of the media and law enforcement officers who cordoned off the area.
Extreme mob
Flash mobs of extreme nature. They violate some moral principles, may contain petty hooliganism and provocations of passers-by. An example of such a flash mob: "pillow fight". You should always take into account the possible consequences of such flash mobs: from the aggression of bystanders to getting into the police station for violation of public order and hooliganism.
Long mob (L-mob)
"Long mob", L-mob or "long mob" (from the English. long - long, long) - a set of predetermined actions that the participants of the action can perform at any time in any convenient place. For example, the flash mob "Crayons" (fig. 4).
Mobbers draw any objects on the ground or asphalt with chalk: cigarette butts, bottles, stones, benches, hatches, poles, homeless people, cars, shadows, etc.
Flash mob can take place within a week. As a result, one morning people will see the city “outlined”, which will generate interest, “disbelief in their eyes” and doubts about their own adequacy.
Funny mob (fan-mob)
"Fan-mob" (from the English. fun - funny) or "circus" - a massive "joke". Flash mob rules are usually not followed as mobers sometimes do not have the feeling of a pre-planned flash mob. Often funny mobs participants decide to spontaneously take place after the main action.
An example of a fan-mob: "A living train". A column of people is moving along the street (avenue), new mobbers are "attached" to them along the way. At the end of the avenue the "locomotive" falls apart, the protesters disperse.
Stuffing or "stuffing"
Filling is different from a flash mob, as well as from a performance (performance, presentation). "Minced meat" is made not for the audience, but for the participants themselves. Their main task is to overcome their complexes, fears, to step over their own boundaries, to do something that in ordinary life they could not or would not do what they would be ashamed to remember.
The purpose of stuffing is to achieve complete emancipation. During the action, each "minced meat" (participant) does something of his own (action, phrases, etc.) - that is, "at the exit" a kind of "minced meat" is obtained.
The place and time of the stuffing is usually not published on the website or in social networks "officially" (by an announcement on the wall in the group), but each participant is notified privately.
Examples of stuffing actions
- dance in women's tights on the table;
- cross the minced meat zone on skis, wearing a helmet and family shorts;
- break tomatoes with a shovel;
- smash a mobile phone with a hammer;
- shave off hair on arms and legs;
- put on a lifeguard uniform and give artificial respiration to a chicken carcass;
- pour a case of beer down the toilet (fig. 5);
- ride tied around the stuffing area;
- put on stockings and a jacket and inflate the chicken with a pump;
- "Crawl" on the sidewalk in a bathing cap (fig. 6);
- pour over ketchup, etc.
Dating campaign ("date-mob")
Acquaintance of mobbers in an unusual way ("date-mob" - from the English. date - date). One share is usually held for one pair. The participants do not know each other and do not know who will be present at the action. The goal is to meet atypically using unusual situations.
For example, one guy and one girl, independently of each other, agree to participate in the action, which the organizers notify in advance on the Internet. On the day of the date-mob, in a predetermined place, the young man is blindfolded and asked to wait. After a while, the organizers of the action bring a girl. She takes the young man by the hand and leads him from one point to another. The walk lasts no more than an hour. On the way, the girl tells what she sees: from the inscriptions on the fence to the color of passing cars. Mobbers do not have to give their names. The "date-mob" ends with the fact that upon reaching the destination, the girl leaves, after which the guy is removed the bandage.
Flash mob literally translated from English (Flash mob) means instant or instant crowd. A group of people who suddenly appear at a specified time in a public place and perform certain actions according to a pre-planned scenario.
Why are these actions carried out?
A flash mob action is an absolutely free activity, the main purpose of which is to surprise people who are by chance near the place of the action. Each of the participants can pursue their own goals, for example, such as:
- for fun;
- overcoming fears and self-affirmation;
- recharge with the positive energy of the team spirit;
- get a thrill;
- make new friends;
- get freedom from imposed norms of behavior and internal barriers.
Frequent participants in such events are successful and financially independent young people who strive to brighten up their everyday life with new sensations, to experience an emotional surge of positive emotions.
Flashmob rules
Regardless of the purpose and subject of the action, there is a set of rules that mobbers (participants) adhere to:
- outside politics, economics and religion;
- without violence and violation of the law;
- absolutely free;
- all actions of a flash mob presentation should seem spontaneous, sudden;
- strict adherence to a pre-thought scenario;
- the performance should evoke extremely positive emotions;
- after the end of the action, all participants must leave the place of its holding, dispersed in different directions, as nothing happened.
Real mobbers do not participate in or create Flash mobs based on selfish, political, religious or other motives. All activities are voluntary. The actions of the participants should evoke various positive experiences, such as: bewilderment, surprise, interest, but not laughter or aggression.
Varieties
If we consider flash mob-promotions in the classical manifestation, we can distinguish several varieties of this direction:
X-mob - or in other words - a real flash mob, more aimed not at the surprise of passers-by, but at the mobbers themselves, whose actions are as close as possible to everyday ones. For example: to get a speck from the eye by looking in a small mirror; wipe the smartphone screen with a napkin; sit down and tie your shoelaces or dust off your clothes; watch the flight of birds in the clouds, etc.
Mob art. One of the most difficult flash mob performances that requires a director and rehearsals. Has aesthetic or artistic value. In 2008, a large mob-art took place in Chelyabinsk, where about 6 thousand people built a huge smiley face, which later entered the Book of Records.
Dance mob. A dance performance, where all the participants of the action merge with the crowd, but then one of them turns on the music and starts dancing and the rest of the mobbers gradually join him. One of the most unusual dance mobs took place in one of the Philippine prisons in honor of the memory of Michael Jackson - fifteen hundred prisoners danced to his hits.
Extreme mob. Not a very popular type of classic flash mob, because the line between “legal” and “illegal” is too thin. Such actions can be regarded as petty hooliganism. A striking example is the pillow fight in the square.
Long-mob. The duration of such an event can last from several days to a week. Usually, long mobs do not have a specific scenario - participants agree, for example, to draw in a certain area with chalk everything that they see on the asphalt: cigarette butts, cars in a parking lot, flower beds, garbage, benches and road signs, animals. The result is a kind of absurd outlined world that surprises all passers-by.
Fun mob - a massive joke. The goal of the fan-mob is to laugh and have fun after a larger action. For example, the participants begin to gather in a kind of "live tram", clinging to each other from behind and collecting new "passengers" along the way. At the end of the action, mobbers disperse in different directions with serious faces.
Stuffing or stuffing - a kind of classic flash mob aimed exclusively at the participants of this action. The main task of the event is: victory over fears, complexes, going beyond what is permitted, victory over internal limitations. For example: wash your feet in a basin, pull on bright women's tights up to your armpits and dance on the table at the fastest pace, imagine yourself as a caterpillar and crawl like it on the sidewalk.
In addition to positive feelings and good mood caused by others, participation in the flash mob movement helps to undergo group psychological rehabilitation in harsh life circumstances, to feel needed and to feel like a part of something more.
On our site you can watch online the best dance flash mobs from around the world for free. We have compiled a large list of videos where people simultaneously perform dances, interesting movements, ideas. A large selection of unusual flash mobs awaits everyone who wants to watch videos from YouTube.
Not so long ago, the first mass action was held in the United States, the purpose of which was to surprise and amuse others and themselves. Today it is a whole movement, spread all over the world and called a flash mob.
This name is the best fit for this movement and means, translated from English, "instant crowd". We have posted on the resource a lot of videos with the best flash mobs, which are very pleasant and fun to watch online. All actions are very different, however, all of them are united by the desire to have a good time and to present positive emotions to both unwilling spectators and participants. All such events have general rules for holding - these are spontaneity, lack of general leadership and the obligatory lack of financial interest, both by organizers and participants.
A huge collection of videos with flash mobs will allow you to watch online on our website. Everything is available for free and without registration. All mobbers gather in one place and perform a certain physical action at a specified time. For example, they turn on umbrellas, freeze for a certain time, or even enter the subway without pants. Our site has access to online videos about synchronized movements performed in a variety of locations and on a variety of topics.
If in not particularly difficult flash mobs you can still observe all the unwritten rules, then in mass dance and vocal events it is more and more difficult to do this. Of course, the most popular are dance flash mobs held both in Russia and abroad. If you are an active, positive and kind person, then watching free funny YouTube videos about dances of strangers posted on our resource is what you need to improve your mood.
The best flash mobs with dancing and not only you can watch online with us without registration and without viruses. It is the viewing of free YouTube videos that generates people's interest in such massive fun, and every year more and more people become mobbers. Also in demand are videos where the participants of the event begin to sing in a restaurant, then at the airport, then in other most unexpected places.
If you are interested in this category, then others will also interest you. One of such examples may be the category "Fun Sports". There you will find a lot of positive moments during sports, and all the fun from different sports. You will not regret if you go there.
No one will name the full list of flash mobs carried out in the entire history of the movement. Without it, it is clear that every year more and more interesting people who love to dance until they drop, sing, enjoy life and delight others become mobbers.