Fashionable flash mob. The most famous flash mobs in the world

Since New Yorkers staged the first ever flash mob on June 17, 2003, the world has never ceased to be amazed. Intricate activists pretend to be zombies, drop their pants in the subway and raise thousands of Chinese lanterns to the sky. What are the most famous flash mobs that took place in Russia?

When and how did the first flash mob take place in Russia?

The first flash mob in Russia took place at the station. Their “colleagues” in the City on the Neva, having settled at the Moscow station, were waiting for an honorary member of the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous - Tatyana Lavrukhina, returning from the capital. Unlike the failed attempt to collectively applaud the fountain at the Nerezinovaya Main Department Store, the station flash mob went off with a bang.

Rating of the most interesting Russian flash mobs

Flash mobs with soap bubbles are popular in Russia

Let's dance with Milka

“Chocolate” flash mob was liked by many Russians

Don't be afraid of the cold - wash yourself up to your waist

Giraffe VKontakte

Giraffe is the most popular flash mob on VKontakte

Pensioners are “on fire”

Flash mob of pensioners in the Moscow metro

Read, bookworm, don’t spare your eyes

Flash mob “Living Library” in Novosibirsk Then, without saying a word, they scatter in different directions. The purpose of this cultural event– arouse interest in the “Living Library” project, which offers to communicate with representatives of different walks of life, from the homeless to the millionaire.

"Macbeth" at the Baltic House

Theatrical flash mob in St. Petersburg But one of the bizarre ideas implemented by the creative organizers of flash mobs completely went out of the general rut of dancing, singing and dousing.

The most interesting flash mob in Russian history

Flash mob in honor of Conchita Wurst Flash mobs often take place in squares and stadiums. But there are also other events taking place there.

Our rating includes hundreds of lonely Beyonces in Piccadilly Circus, gigantic emoticons and the Internet Bee-Challenge, which forced girls to flash their bare breasts. What collective ventures have settled in the neighborhood?

Who organized the first flash mob and how?

Although the first event, scheduled for June 3, was disrupted by the New York police, people liked the idea. On June 17, 2003, two hundred activists gathered at the exclusive Macy's carpet and told the sellers amazing story. A pitiful story about people living in a warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of New York and looking for the “rug of Love” shook the whole world. Very soon, flash mobs organized through LiveJournal took place in Moscow, Dnepropetrovsk, Kyiv, Odessa and St. Petersburg.

The planet was captured by flash mob euphoria. Competing in ingenuity and passing the baton to each other, active earthlings surprised their passive brothers who followed life through the media.

Top most famous flash mobs

Optical illusion

It is not surprising that their unlucky compartment neighbors, tired of looking at the simultaneously raised hands and turned over pages of newspapers, disembarked ahead of time.

The sea is agitated once...

It's amazing that ordinary people who found themselves in the same store did not notice anything remarkable.

Mr Mandela, you will not die this week

Company of lonely Beyonce

A smile will brighten the day

Unfortunately, the weather that day was clearly not in good spirits: due to the piercing cold, the participants in the good-natured flash mob were forced to retreat to their homes.

Pillow battles

Lower my bra

The Americans, inspired by the idea, wrapped everything they could find in colorful packaging: light bulbs and canned food, toilet paper and a sausage stick. The children's dissatisfaction knew no bounds. Girls who received dolls instead fire truck, banged their heads against the wall, and the boys, who fished out the Barbie doll, swore at the innocent Santa in vain. Collective torture of immature psyches has become the leader of YouTube.

Not only flash mobs, but also other events are grandiose. There is an article on the uznayvse website about the biggest and grandest concerts.
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Flashmob ((English flash mob (flash - flash, instant, moment; mob - crowd, gathering) - instant crowd)) - large group people who perform some similar actions and then diverge.

What is a flash mob

Examples physical actions participants (offline flash mobs):

After the flash mob, its participants meet physically or virtually, get acquainted, discuss the results of the action, plan further actions, come up with new flash mob scenarios and their goals.

Rice. 1. Example of a chain letter

One of the most widespread and popular offline flash mobs around the world is the dance flash mob.

Flash mobs on the Internet can occur spontaneously - in the form of comments on a funny post, variations of an interesting video story, or be planned when members of a group on a social network are given a task: put a picture on their avatar, answer a few questions and “pass the baton” to other users ( ask them to continue).

Flash mob on the Internet: history and features

Before the advent of the Internet, chain letters were common. The tradition (especially among children) of sending “chain letters” was reminiscent of a modern “flash mob”.

The letters said that the letter needed to be rewritten and sent to several acquaintances within a certain period. Many people took part in this game (Fig. 1).

With the advent of the Internet, this tradition was revived, acquired new forms and was called “flash mob”. The distribution medium for flash mobs is email, social media, forums, chats, video services.

How do flash mobs happen?

1) Flash mobs on the Internet can occur spontaneously. For example, in comments to posts, surveys - with the aim of having fun, having fun.

2) An Internet flash mob can be planned:

• to promote a website, brand, personality;
• for the purpose of conducting a hidden advertising campaign;
• in order to control the political sentiments of the masses.

The concepts of “advertising”, “political”, “social” flash mobs appeared. And also professional flash mobs - proflashes. All these actions in their goals, objectives, features of organization and implementation are the opposite of a regular flash mob. They contradict its original rules and principles.

The main (“classic”) goals and objectives of the flash mob

Flash mobs are made for random spectators, causing them feelings of confusion, misunderstanding, surprise, interest, delight and even a desire to join.

People take part in a flash mob with the aim of:

• have fun;
• feel freedom from society’s stereotypes and norms of behavior;
• capture the attention of others;
• assert oneself;
• get rid of complexes;
• get a “dose of adrenaline”;
• feel unity with other people;
• feel involved in a common action;
• get the effect of a “group psychotherapy” session;
• emotionally recharge (discharge);
• Find friends.

These goals are achieved using the “crowd effect”.

Flash mob participants - in Everyday life often serious, more or less successful people. The reason for participation in such actions, as a number of psychologists explain, is fatigue from everyday worries and routine.

Flash mob rules and principles

1) The director (leader) of a flash mob is often unknown.

2) The action should seem spontaneous.

3) Initially it was assumed that the flash mob should not contain advertising elements; be of a political, agitational nature; have financial goals. But such flash mobs (in pure form) are rare. The listed elements are most often present in the promotion.

5) Flash mob participants (ideally, people who do not know each other) should not show that they are connected by something. They should appear to be random participants: Internet users, “ordinary passers-by.”

6) The actions of the participants in the action can cause bewilderment, surprise, fun and delight. But the flash mob participants themselves do everything with a serious look.

7) The flash mob scenario (for outside observers) may seem absurd (the actions of the participants defy logic). For example, freeze in a certain position, circle a bottle on the asphalt with chalk, shoot a video that is meaningless in content.

However, the goals of the action can be clearly visible: to ridicule or condemn a certain media personality; achieve a specific result (for example, influence the course of the trial by mass commenting and filing petitions, etc.).

In 2013, many interesting and unusual flash mobs took place around the world. On which they sang, danced, launched sky lanterns, “hanged” famous figures culture and undressed... We have collected 10 of the most striking - from undressing in the subway to singing of British military personnel.

Flashmob is a fairly new phenomenon that appeared in 2002, after the publication of sociologist Howard Reingold's book Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution. In it, the author predicted that people would use new communication technologies(Internet, Cell phones) for self-organization. In essence, this is true: a flash mob is a pre-planned mass action in which a large group of people appears in public place, performs pre-agreed actions (according to the script) and then disperses.

On June 17, 2003, the first official flash mob took place. Its organizer at that time was Chief Editor Harper's Magazine Bill Wasik. That flash mob was quite strange in description: approximately 200 people (according to other sources 150) gathered around one expensive carpet in the furniture department of the Macy's department store and began to tell the sellers that they lived together in a warehouse in a "suburban commune" on the outskirts of New York and came to buy the “Rug of Love”.

Musical flash mob from the British Army

British military Music band has the most large composition in England. Not so long ago, in September of this year, they organized a musical flash mob in Chamberlain Square in Birmingham. 60 musicians performed the classic “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Louis Prim.

Flash mob in memory of Nelson Mandela

WoolworthsFood store employees paid tribute to the recently deceased President of South Africa and one of the most famous human rights activists, Nelson Mandela, in an unusual and very beautiful way. The flash mob, called "Gospel Flash Mob", is a song they prepared together with the Soweto church choir and sang right in the store on a weekday. The visitors were touched - they filmed it and clapped at the end.

Flash mob - launching sky lanterns

Synchronized launch of sky lanterns in the city of Miag-ao in the Philippines.

Flash mob “No pants on the subway”

The strange and funny flash mob “No Pants Subway Ride” has been taking place in many cities around the world for several years in a row. The idea of ​​stripping down to their underpants in front of subway passengers arose in 2002 among seven daredevils from the art group ImprovEverywhere in New York. On January 13, 2013, the flash mob was repeated - more than four thousand women and men in their underwear rode in the New York subway. And around the world, in 25 countries, about 16 thousand people took part in this unusual event. The largest concentrations of participants in this flash mob can be seen in the metro of Mexico City, London, Madrid, Berlin, Helsinki, Washington and, of course, New York.

Flash mob from a musical group of the US Air Force

In December, in honor of the holidays, the United States Air Force musical group surprised visitors National Museum aviation and astronautics with an unexpected flash mob. Without any announcements or warnings, emerging from the crowd, they began to play classic"Joy To The World".

Flash mob “Do Not Kill Culture”

In October, a flash mob called “Don’t Kill Culture” took place in Rome. During this action, cultural activists hung a slogan in defense of culture on the Ponte Sant Angelo bridge, as well as silhouettes of “hanged” icons European culture — famous dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, film actor and director Charlie Chaplin, writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, film director Piero Paolo Pasolini, artist Pablo Picasso, architect, “father of modernism” in Northern Europe Alvar Aalto, experimental scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie, singer Maria Callas and writer Astrid Lindgren.

Flash mob at an employment service office in Spain

There are a lot of unemployment cases in Spain and the employment office is a very sad place. In January of this year, the musical group Carne Cruda decided to slightly diversify the lives of people forced to look for work, and held a musical flash mob in one of these offices. The video shows that they chose the Beatles song "Here Comes The Sun".

Flash mob of zombie culture fans

Fans of zombie culture constantly organize flash mobs in different corners peace. Brighton Academy students staged a London Museum science small flash mob in support of ZombieLab events.

Large-scale dance flash mob in Seattle

On April 14, more than 500 people came out to surprise Seattle pedestrians. The flash mob “The Glee Flash Mob” took place in three different locations in the city. The dance in the video was recorded in Westlake Park in Lower Seattle.

Flash mob “Verdi Style”

May 15 ten opera singers from Canada, the USA and Puerto Rico, being among the guests at one of the evenings, began to sing famous composition Giuseppe Verdi.

PHOTO Getty Images

Key Ideas

• Flash mobs help us feel important. This is a personal moment of glory.
• A person is always more comfortable in a group.
• The Internet and participation in various events is a way of self-expression.
• We want to be like celebrities, wanting to imitate them, we participate in flash mobs.

Flash mobs came into fashion about ten years ago. Through the Internet, people agreed on a time and place to meet, gathered in a public place, and at the appointed hour, completely unexpectedly for passers-by, they began to carry out their routine - dancing, singing or doing something else unusual. Some turned into a real show, and their videos became viral and quickly gained popularity on the Internet. Now flash mobs are moving entirely online. Physical presence is no longer required. With minimal effort we get feedback from the world, confirmation that we exist.

Psychologists identify four main reasons that force people to take part in online performances.

1. Feeling of self-worth

At the heart of any flash mob is an official idea - to draw attention to a problem, raise funds for charity, release pent-up emotions or popularize cultural values. Duke University psychology professor Dan Ariely notes that everyone strives to create an image of a good, respectable person 1 . Participating in flash mobs with noble ideas is one of the easiest ways to achieve this goal.

Post a picture online while sitting on the couch,- easier than doing something in real world. At the same time, we receive immediate rewards - likes, reposts and comments from our virtual friends. In 2007, a group of scientists led by University of Michigan School of Computer Science professor Nicole Ellison studied how young people use social networks. Scientists have come to the conclusion - active work on social networks helps to increase self-esteem and level of life satisfaction 2.

“Group actions provide an opportunity to feel involved to some “important matter,” which always increases self-esteem,” explains psychologist Elena Solomeina. - Unfortunately, when solving their problems in this way, many do not pay attention to the essence of the flash mob, to the idea for which everything was started. This is the emotional and demonstrative component of the flash mob. “I belong to a group of people who care, I help people and in general I am useful for society and the world as a whole” - in our time, it is not so much success that is relevant as demonstrating this success to the world.

The Internet allows you to get results instantly: post a funny video with yourself and you’re a celebrity

Flash mob participants create the illusion of working to achieve socially significant goals. “However, the real changes that are available to a person in the first place are changes in his real life“says psychologist Mikhail Balakin. They require more effort, courage and determination than publishing a story or completing a task online. Unlike changes in real life, in a flash mob you don’t have to think about what to do.

Created by social networks a virtual reality- replacement of real activity, substitution of life, its simulation. It's always easier to play than to really work. The Internet allows you to get results instantly: you signed an appeal, talked about something intimate, posted a funny video with your participation - and you are a celebrity. They talk about you, they discuss you - a personal moment of fame.

2. The desire for social belonging

Flash mobs allow us to be part of something bigger. Thematic - find like-minded people, some of whom can become friends in real life.

In the case of emotionally charged flash mobs, people understand that they are not alone in their trouble, and enlist mutual support. The need to be part of a group is not new. The survival of our ancestors depended on the ability to settle into society. Belonging to a community increased the chances of survival. The outcasts died. These mechanisms still work today.

In 2010, a group of scientists led by Michael Bernstein, PhD, a psychologist at Pennsylvania State University, conducted a study on social isolation. Participants in the experiment were divided into three groups: the first was asked to write an essay about how society rejected them; the second is about acceptance and inclusion; the third - on a neutral topic. All participants were then shown a series of short videos of smiling people. The subjects had to recognize genuine and fake smiles. The results showed - “rejected” participants did the most. Scientists have concluded that social isolation activates an adaptive mechanism that helps us restore contact with the community 3 .

Singing in a choir is not as scary as performing solo

It is important for a person to feel like a member of a community or groups. This allows him to form an idea of ​​himself and answer the question “who am I?” “By joining one community or another, a person gains a sense of belonging and strength by finding like-minded people,” says Mikhail Balakin.

“In the virtual space, people satisfy social needs,” says psychologist Alena Al-As. - You can easily join a group of your own kind and become part of something big. Even a withdrawn, timid and lonely person finds “friends”, they begin to respect him, they begin to listen to him.”

“Openly expressing your views and feelings is not easy. When everyone does this, it becomes easier,” says psychologist Elena Solomeina. “Singing in a choir is not as scary as performing solo.”

PHOTO Getty Images

3. Opportunity for self-expression

The Internet is the most popular platform for creativity. First, there are no barriers to entry. Anyone can register an account on a social network. There is no need to climb up to the podium or otherwise physically attract people's attention. Secondly, a limitless audience. Perhaps among your friends there are not enough like-minded people or people facing similar problems. They will probably be found on the Internet.

Communications expert Alena August believes that The online social circle is much wider than what we have in real life. On the Internet, you can meet a person with whom you have something in common, and reinforce this connection with relevant posts. You can say something that is unlikely to be asked in everyday life, as in the case of a flash mob #not afraid to say. The lack of direct physical contact creates a feeling of safety. No one is safe from malicious comments, but they certainly won’t throw rotten eggs at you.

Flash mob - group psychological training, during which a person expresses himself openly, throwing away inhibitions

“The Internet gives a person experiences that are missing in reality, brings additional adrenaline - and all this against the backdrop of a feeling of complete security,” confirms Sergei Gorin. “The Internet creates a feeling of being chosen and initiated into secrets.”

“On the Internet we realize what we don’t have the courage to do in real life,” says Alena Al-As. “This allows a person to express their feelings, cope with fear of rejection and get the support needed to deal with difficult situations.”

“Flash mob - group psychological training, during which a person openly expresses himself, casting aside inhibitions,” says psychologist Elena Solomeina. This has a positive effect on the emotional sphere of his life.

4. The desire to imitate

In the most popular flash mobs famous personalities took part- Vin Diesel, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen King doused themselves with ice water during the #icebucketchallenge movement. We want to prove that we are no worse famous personalities. We try to get closer and join them. The same thing happens when all our friends participate in a flash mob. We feel left out if we don't join the movement.

In any group there is a leader, a bright creative personality who calls for something. The group accepts the message and implements its idea, explains Alena Al-As. Usually flash mobs depend on such bright personalities.

But psychologist Valentin Denisov-Melnikov explains the popularity of flash mobs by the fact that for many it is easier to be like everyone else. The #icebucketchallenge received such a response because few people decided to give up when challenged. They were embarrassed to show themselves as cowards and not get doused with ice water. Only the most independent were able to say: “I don’t want to.”

We take part in flash mobs

Flash mobs not only attract public attention to important issues, but also help participants have fun or feel better. Main - the right approach to these events.

Remember the main idea. Before you post a picture under a popular hashtag, think about whether you really support and share the idea that the flash mob is promoting.

Test yourself for conformity. Ask yourself: am I participating in this because it is important to me, or am I uncomfortable being apart of mass activity?

Think about the consequences. What is once posted on the Internet remains there forever. Disclosing personal or traumatic information can bring relief to short term, and then be replaced by a feeling of shame and regret.

1 D. Ariely, “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves” (Harper Collins, 2013).

2 N. Ellison et al. “The benefits of Facebook ‘friends’: Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007, vol. 12, no. 4.

3 M. Bernstein et al. “A preference for genuine smiles following social exclusion,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2010, vol. 46, no. 1.