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Asmart mob is a group whose coordination and communication abilities have been empowered bydigital communication technologies.[1] Smart mobs are particularly known for their ability to mobilize quickly.[1]
The concept was introduced byHoward Rheingold in his 2002 bookSmart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.[2] Rheingold defined the smart mob as follows: "Smart mobs consist of people who are able to act in concert even if they don’t know each other... because they carry devices that possess both communication and computing capabilities".[3] In December of that year, the "smart mob" concept was highlighted in theNew York Times "Year in Ideas".[4]
These technologies that empower smart mobs include theInternet,computer-mediated communication such asInternet Relay Chat, andwireless devices likemobile phones andpersonal digital assistants. Methodologies likepeer-to-peer networks andubiquitous computing are also changing the ways in which people organize and share information.[citation needed]
Flash mobs are a specific form of smart mob, originally describing a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual and pointless for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse. The difference between flash and smart mobs is primarily with regards to their duration: flash mobs disappear quickly, but smart mobs can have a more enduring presence.[2] The termflash mob is claimed to have been inspired by "smart mob".[5]
Smart mobs have begun to have an impact in current events, as mobile phones and text messages have empowered everyone from revolutionaries inMalaysia to individuals protesting the secondIraq War. Individuals who have divergent worldviews and methods have been able to coordinate short-term.[citation needed]
A 2009 entry in theEncyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology noted that the term may be "fading from public use".[2]
A forerunner to the idea can be found in the work of anarchist thinker Kropotkin, "fishermen, hunters, travelling merchants, builders, or settled craftsmen came together for a common pursuit."[6]
According toCNN, the first smart mobs were teenage "thumb tribes" in Tokyo and Helsinki who usedtext messaging oncell phones to organize imprompturaves or to stalk celebrities. For instance, in Tokyo, crowds of teenage fans would assemble seemingly spontaneously at subway stops where a rock musician was rumored to be headed.[7]
However, an even earlier example is theDîner en blanc phenomenon, which has taken place annually inParis,France, since 1988, for one night around the end of June. The invited guests wear only white clothes and gather at a chosen spot, knowledge of which they have only a short time beforehand. They bring along food, drink, chairs and a table and the whole group then gathers to have a meal, after which they disperse. The event has been held each year in different places in the centre of Paris. It is not a normal cultural event because it is not advertised and only those who have received an invite attend—information on the chosen location is transferred by text message or more recentlyTwitter. The number of people attending has grown, in 2011, to over 10,000.[8]Dîner en blanc would be considered a smart mob rather than a flash mob, because the event lasts for several hours.[citation needed]
TheProfessional Contractors Group organised the first smart mob in the UK in 2000 when 700 contractors turned up at The House of Commons to lobby their MP following an email sent out a few days before.[9]
In the days after the U.S. presidential election of 2000, online activistZack Exley anonymously created a website that allowed people to suggest locations for gatherings to protest for a full recount of the votes inFlorida. On the first Saturday after the election, more than 100 significant protests took place—many with thousands of participants—without any traditional organizing effort. Exley wrote in December 2000 that the self-organized protests "demonstrated that a fundamental change is taking place in our national political life. It's not the Internet per se, but the emerging potential for any individual to communicate—for free and anonymously if necessary—with any other individual."[10]
In thePhilippines in 2001, a group of protesters organized via text messaging gathered at theEDSA Shrine, the site of the1986 revolution that overthrewFerdinand Marcos, to protest the corruption of PresidentJoseph Estrada. The protest grew quickly, and Estrada was soon removed from office.[11]
TheCritical Mass bicycling events, dating back to 1992, are also sometimes compared to smart mobs, due to their self-organizing manner of assembly.[12][13]
Essentially, the smart mob is a practical implementation ofcollective intelligence. According to Rheingold, examples of smart mobs are the street protests organized by theanti-globalization movement. TheFree State Project has been described inForeign Policy as an example of potential "smartmob rule".[14] Other examples of smart mobs include:
The comic bookGlobal Frequency, written byWarren Ellis, describes a covert, non-governmental intelligence organization built around a smart mob of people that are called on to provide individual expertise in solving extraordinary crises.[citation needed]
David Brin's speculative science fiction novel,Existence (ISBN 978-0-765-30361-5), similarly posits the use of on-the-fly smart mobs by credible journalists as sources of information and expertise.