Seven Castles

Smart Mob

                                      

June 11, 2008

 

A smart mob is a form of self-structuring social organization through technology-mediated, intelligent "emergent behavior". Howard Rheingold introduced the concept in his book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. According to him, smart mobs are an indication of the evolving communication technologies that will empower the people. In 2002, the "smart mob" concept was highlighted in the New York Times "Year in Ideas".

 

These growing technologies include the Internet, computer-mediated communication such as Internet Relay Chat, and wireless devices like mobile phones and personal digital assistants. Methodologies like peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and pervasive computing are also changing the ways in which people organize and share information.

 

A smart mob is a group that, contrary to the usual connotations of a mob, behaves intelligently or efficiently because of its exponentially increasing network links. This network enables people to connect to information and others, allowing a form of social coordination. Essentially, the smart mob is a practical implementation of collective intelligence.

 

One reason for the rise of smart mobs is the ever-decreasing cost of increasingly powerful microprocessors that have allowed them to permeate throughout society – they are embedded in everything from boxes to clothes. Depending on how the technology is used, smart mobs may be beneficial or detrimental to society. Rheingold warns of the use of the technology by some to create a society similar to the one seen in George Orwell's 1984 or by terrorists for their malicious purposes.

 

The first smart mobs were teenage "thumb tribes" in Tokyo and Helsinki who used text messaging on cell phones to organize impromptu raves 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.

 

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 for a brief period of time, and then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is claimed to have been inspired by "smart mob". Since its inception, however, "flash mob" has been used by news media and promoters to refer to nearly any form of smart mob.

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2008年06月11日 星期三 05:01】【注册】【打印】