Flash Mobs
August 30, 2011
English 101 Flash Mobs According to Webster’s Dictionary a flash mob is a group of people often arranged by social media to meet in a public place for the purpose of doing an unusual or entertaining activity for a short period of time. Flash mobs have been occurring in the United States since 2003 when it began in Manhattan, New York. Flash mobs have resurfaced in the news in the past couple of months. Although not all flash mobs are violent, the newsworthy actions that have taken place have been just that. There have been multiple robberies and assaults that have been committed by flash mobs over the last months that that have made it to news headlines all over the nation. Majority of the these groups are made up of teenagers that are meeting up through text messaging. The reasons why teenagers would interact with these groups could be the lack of social skills that technology is enabling, the unemployment rate and teenagers following the trends. The internet plays a major role in the lives of most American teenagers. Facebook and Twitter have become household names in the mouths of young adults. Also text messaging is one of the major forms of communication among teenagers today. All of these networks allow people to communicate with one another without having to verbally communicate at all. With less verbal communication skills required to get a point across, the amount of social skills when face to face with other people is at a minimum. Therefore, when text messages about flash mobbing are sent some teens think of it as a social gathering where they can meet new people and make new friends. With the unemployment rate at the highest it has been in years teenagers are out of work and in need of something to do. In previous years teenagers would get summer jobs before going back to school but with no jobs available teens are at home with nothing to do. Flash mobs would appeal to teens that have nothing to do because they are simply
English 101 Flash Mobs According to Webster’s Dictionary a flash mob is a group of people often arranged by social media to meet in a public place for the purpose of doing an unusual or entertaining activity for a short period of time. Flash mobs have been occurring in the United States since 2003 when it began in Manhattan, New York. Flash mobs have resurfaced in the news in the past couple of months. Although not all flash mobs are violent, the newsworthy actions that have taken place have been just that. There have been multiple robberies and assaults that have been committed by flash mobs over the last months that that have made it to news headlines all over the nation. Majority of the these groups are made up of teenagers that are meeting up through text messaging. The reasons why teenagers would interact with these groups could be the lack of social skills that technology is enabling, the unemployment rate and teenagers following the trends. The internet plays a major role in the lives of most American teenagers. Facebook and Twitter have become household names in the mouths of young adults. Also text messaging is one of the major forms of communication among teenagers today. All of these networks allow people to communicate with one another without having to verbally communicate at all. With less verbal communication skills required to get a point across, the amount of social skills when face to face with other people is at a minimum. Therefore, when text messages about flash mobbing are sent some teens think of it as a social gathering where they can meet new people and make new friends. With the unemployment rate at the highest it has been in years teenagers are out of work and in need of something to do. In previous years teenagers would get summer jobs before going back to school but with no jobs available teens are at home with nothing to do. Flash mobs would appeal to teens that have nothing to do because they are simply