# What is flash mobbing and how can I do it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-flash-mobbing-and-how-can-i-do-it/215542>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 27, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-flash-mobbing-and-how-can-i-do-it/215542 "2003-11-27T06:39:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ILikeMadonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8baadc/32.png) [@ILikeMadonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeMadonna)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-flash-mobbing-and-how-can-i-do-it/215542/1 "2003-11-27T06:39:59Z")

</div>

What is flash mobbing?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-flash-mobbing-and-how-can-i-do-it/215542/2 "2003-11-27T07:09:18Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Flash mob: A large group of people who gather in a usually predetermined location, perform some brief action, and then quickly disperse.

> **[flash mob - Word Spy](https://wordspy.com/index.php?word=flash-mob)**
>
> A large group of people who gather in a usually predetermined location, perform some brief action, and then quickly disperse.

From what I’ve heard, the event is usually planned out by email, then everyone shows up, does whatever the email told them to do, and within minutes, they’re all gone. There’s no leader, and there’s no connection between people. Most of the people involved are strangers and will never meet again. I saw it only once on the news. Some people ran into a McDonalds, danced around holding napkins, and left. Mall security was baffled, but unable to find a rule that had been broken.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-flash-mobbing-and-how-can-i-do-it/215542/3 "2003-11-27T17:20:12Z")

</div>

Flash mobbing reminds me of the wierd ‘crazes’ that go on in the Judge Dredd universe. People get so unsettled living in residential cubes (suburbs) that they start doing wierd shit like declaring war on their neighboring block or having eating contests.

Frankly flash mobs seem like a frotteurist’s wet dream 😉