Flash-mobbing: An Introduction

I heard there was a flashmob in Dolores Park yesterday at 7:30pm. This got me thinking about flashmobs as a demonstration of collective rally strength. Collective demonstrations like protests, or riots. (Not that I'm advocating rioting as political action.) So I turned to the web to learn more. I was suprised to read that "it is clear that a sense of play, rather than politics, lies at the root of the flash-mob."

While the article was written in 2003, it seems that even if flash mobbing hasn't been applied to obvious political action, mass play is political. Flash mobs are a mass play phenomenon where the first rule of flash mob is you don't tell people who ask why you're doing whatever you're doing. There is instant in- and out-group. And it seems that in a culture seeded with puritan work ethic and economic value creation, making such a loud statement about the value of play is an action that undercuts the foundations of American society.