I still cannot find the title of the paper. The beginning of the paper outlines what it will discuss. This paper will be making an analysis of trends in mobile technology then of flash mobs, so I assume that this paper makes a connection between mobile tech. and flash mobs. This will differ from the first paper I read. I found the article while looking up a term used in the previous article.
The article is tying the extreme increase of cellphone usage from 2001-2008 (the diagrams are actually really shocking) to the increase of mass communication. This ties the usage of sites like Facebook that made phone-internet usage increase sharply. The paper is using flash mobs as the combination of mass communication and physical space. Social networking has passed the usage of email, and mobile internet is now used more than desktop internet (Coincidentally, I posted last night's thoughts journal from my phone!).
The first sentence of the second part is to directly tie mass communication to the creation of the flash mob (quick to the point?). The first 'primitive' form of a 'flash mob' was to organize a protest in the Phillipines in 2001 (I want to look this up!) He then describes 'atomized' flash mobs as ones without purpose other than to use the technology that has become availible (the earliest forms of the ones we know today; Macy's, 2003). He ties their popularity to programs like Youtube, to spread across the world. "Interactive flash mobs" are for the interaction alone (hanging with friends; these can be destructive). Performance flash mobs are to make an artistic statement (typically led by one main organizer), and advertising flash mobs to promote a product (T-Mobile Liverpool). Political flash mobs are ones relative to the Phillipines mob, to make a political statement. The internet is attributed to the success of flash mobs. The paper then has a number of sites that promote flash mobs (good for finding sources to interview?) It then alks about the implications, such as the ones recently in Philadelphia (I call them flash 'robs'...). While the paper makes the statement that the true 'flash mob' may be over, I'm not quite sure about that. With the numbers of people using the internet on mobile phones, such as the Droid or iPhone, I think that they may rise back up, or their successors will.