Urban Youth's Perspectives on Flash Mobs

Houston, J. Brian; Seo, Hyunjin; Knight, Leigh Anne Taylor; Kennedy, Edward H.; Hawthorne, Joshua; Trask, Sara L.

doi:10.1080/00909882.2013.825728

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Other names of mobs that fall under the Smart mobs’ category include: Deviant Cyber Flash Mobs (Al-khateeb and Agarwal 2019 ) or Vicious Flash Mobs (Shapiro 2017 ): These are smart mobs (with agenda ) and include deviant acts. For example, the Violent Youth Flash Mobs (Houston et al 2013 ), Criminal Flash Mobs (Steinblatt 2011 ), Flash Robs (Bylieva 2018 ; Steinblatt 2011 ), and Rolezinho (Bylieva 2018 ) would fit under this category of mobs. Long-Mobs such as the Internet mobs , I-mobs, or Virtual Flash Mobs : These are the events in which people do the same action but not coincide in time , i.e., asynchronously (i.e., last more than 20 min) and mostly happens in the cyberspace (not always though), for example, the Virtual Flash Mobs (Bylieva 2018 ) are events in which participants are required to write some text, post a picture, press like button, retweet, answer a specific question, etc., using a specific hashtag.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the same year, Houston et al ( 2013 ) studied the urban youth’s perspectives on flash mobs to understand their motivation to participate, the causes and consequences they think they might face, and the possible solutions to avoid violent flash mobs . They surveyed a focus group that consists of 50 participants from Kansas City, Missouri because it was the place of a recent violent flash mob where youth were the primary participants (or the participant's peers).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that youth violent flash mobs are usually caused by youth boredom and youth wanting to: gain attention, see each other, watch fights, and be visible or recognized (some assertion of identity). They also found that providing youths with more safe and fun activities, improving the various city and community services, more police presence in existing events, and trying to fix the social disorder in the community, in general, could help in mitigating the youth violent flash mobs (Houston et al 2013 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, when a phenomenon is new, mentioned in media, and depends on technology, it is hard to assume that everyone knows its exact meaning (Houston et al 2013 ). Also, many traditionalist flash mobbers became concerned that the global diffusion of flash mobs have diluted their original meaning (Molnár 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flash mob: a multidisciplinary review

Al-khateeb

Agarwal

2021

Soc. Netw. Anal. Min.

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Since the year 2003, the term “flash mob” has been studied in various disciplines and was referred to by various media outlets to describe various events. The term "flash mob" originally meant to describe a phenomenon in which a group of people assembles in a public space, perform a seemingly random act, then quickly disperse. This phenomenon was expected to die just like other types of public performances, e.g., the eighties' raves. However, this phenomenon is still alive and became widespread in various forms. Since this phenomenon was new, mentioned in the media, and depended on technology, it is unwise to assume that everyone knows its exact meaning. Many traditionalist flash mobbers become concerned that the global diffusion of flash mobs has diluted their original meaning. So, in this summative, chronological, and by topic literature review article, we explore the disciplines in which this term was used; then investigate its various forms and propose the term “Mob” to be the root term so we can categorize its various forms (branches) and eliminate ambiguities; and prove that this phenomenon still exists. Finally, we try to shed light on what is missing from the literature and what needs to be studied in the future with regard to this topic.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flash mob: a multidisciplinary review

Al-khateeb

Agarwal

2021

Soc. Netw. Anal. Min.

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“…In 2009-2010 violent flash mobs erupted in Philadelphia (Ducomb & Benmen, 2014). Hawthorne & Trask (2013) consider that while these youth mobs differ from the original conceptualization of a flash mob, they have often been labelled flash mobs by local media and public officials.…”

Section: The Third Stage Of Smart Mob Development Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution Of Smart Mob: From Flash Mob To Smart City Element

Rubtsova¹,

Lobatyuk²,

Bylieva³

2018

The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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Over recent years, new digital communication technologies have had a big impact on established social institutions. These technologies naturally exert some pressure on modern society. The article reveals such phenomenon as a smart mob, which appeared due to the development of information technologies and social networks and is widespread now. The research shows the evolution of the smart mob and the flash mob as its kind in the way of constructing new formats for mass communication and social group management. Analysing different types of smart mobs, the authors identify four stages of its development: "creative", "game", "business" and "smart". Four main stages of the smart mob evolution determine the principles of its organization and the main characteristics. The classic flash mob at its first stage has the principle of artistic creativity, which assigns the flash mob like a work of art. This creative act displays social processes beyond the habitual perception, drawing attention of an external observer to something, presenting this object in a new way by destroying established communication patterns used in everyday life. At the second stage, the smart mob loses its mystery, uniqueness and becomes a mass phenomenon attracting many thousands of participants. The third stage has practical characteristics, a goal-setting matrix for political, commercial and other purposes. At the last stage, the smart mob can evolve to the smart city element that helps to attract attention to a problem and to solve it.

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