Day Three, Analysis of First Article, During Reading

As I am reading through the first article, the one I found yesterday, I am findig he talks a lot about "colonization of the lifeworld" and the "public sphere." A problem from his research was that he found it hard to find a flash mob occuring during his research from the groups running flash mobs in his area of Texas (oh, yeah there are apparently groups that just do flash mobs!), a problem I hopefully will not have, being the person running the flash mob. Site to talk to others on flash mobs mentioned: Urban Pranksters (P.S. apparently this site has been becoming replaced by the introduction of Facebook, as he mentions later). He then talks about comparing the people who participate in the flash mobs, and using social networking like Facebook to contact other people who are in flash mobs (good idea, may have to use for significant interviewing). He found problems with email interviews, and phone and in person were significantly longer (maybe a chat on skype for long distance interviews is an idea?). He then gives some of his interview questions, some that tie into my research so far, but none that are from the perspective of the audience, just the performers. He also talks of Youtube and how it is used to broadcast performances. He has a problem generalizing flash mobs due to the variety in flash mobs. Guerrilla theater is compared in its lack of spontaneity and more preparation. He points out that one of the few traits shared across flash mobs is that the people must be bold. According to his population sample, people rarely mention a cause/awareness for the flash mob. He does include the motivation of recognition aided by Youtube. This is an answer to the question on evolution of flash mobs-they become eternal (kinda) and world-wide instead of a small mall food court. He also uses an interview response mentioning video choreography in order to get more people to show up. He discusses turnout versus complexity, which reminds me of a concept in Psychology of the difficulty of tasks versus arousal. A more difficult task needs less arousal for optimal performance, and more arousal for simple tasks. For a larger flash mob, you need a more simple task (freezing in place). For a smaller flash mob, you need a more difficult task (a dance and song). Sites like Youtube can make the more difficult performance larger. He then talks about the use of flash mobs as their own form of social interactions. Another point is that it should not be detrimental to the natural happenings of the venue (not filling and blocking an entire hall in a mall). Positive results defined as: Attention. Purpose options: Promote consumerism, or distract from it.