Flash Mobs are so much Fun

Flash mobs are one of the most fun and entertaining innovations that have come out of using mobile technology. It promotes a system of gathering that perpetuates a more organized and efficient way to have messages spread through the masses. The idea is for the organization to be effective, swift, and untraceable. Stephanie M. put it best when she wrote, “Flash mobs and smart mobs allow an empowerment of the members because they feel like they belong to an organization, and the members of flash mobs get a laugh after causing a public scene and entertaining the people who encounter one of their meetings.”

In the past I have received e-mails from friends or “promotion teams” for an event called “party train”. An e-mail in addition to text messages were sent to party kids across NYC on the same day the event was to occur, it included a time, train line, and car number, or hint to indicate where to gather. At the chime of the train doors, DJ’s and their friends flooded the train car with a few pieces of sound equipment, people of the group emerged and began to dance and for the next few stops on the line, more people filled that same car. The gathering took place on a train line that is less frequented by riders at 3 o'clock in the morning and is always located in the to second last car. The party dosen’t last very long, but is much fun. With the use of mobile technology, the public sphere, some spontaneity and the mind frame that anything can possibly happen, it sounds like a flash mob to me- and until now, I didn’t consider party train anything else other than a quick party. (There was a beer commercial which aired showing a depiction of a party train, if you remember.)

Again, at anti war protests during the summer, I recall people desperately reaching for their cell phones once crowd blockades were discovered along the route. Text messaging also seemed to play an important role in keeping protesters close together, and out of trouble.

Our generation defiantly has an advantage through the use of such technologies. How many times has your cell phone helped you out of a jam, and afterwards you wonder, if it weren’t for your phone, how would you have gotten through it. People in our parents generation would have found a way to survive a situation, rather than talking their way out of it. My mother is constantly reminding me of how much easier I have it, in the sense that I have constant communication between school, friends and family etc. Refer to Imbar’s story which involves a work relationship between herself and an older women journalist, working for the NYT. The generation gap in addition with a technology gap all leads to a miscommunication.

Wikipedia tries its best to avoid any kind of miscommunication or mis leading information, it gets updated every second, and knowledge is easily accessible. Flash mobs has been described as performance art, a cultural event, a fad, a phenomenon, or simply belonging to a crowd, read a few brief articles to form your own opinion.

Weblogs and Wikis

Whenever I am faced with new technological advancements concerning the improvement of communication, I instantly become interested in knowing: what now?. Perhaps being a communication student, has allowed me to develop some uncounicius need to know, and an ability to be aware of what's going on. But at the same time I feel like I am caught in an unending, never satisfied web of ideas and constant recreations of similar ideas. It convinces the masses that the newer system of communication is more effective thus smarter and necessary for optimum service of information transfer. As Bryann stated “...the Mob stand for mobile and this means greater communication flexibility. This also means I am becoming more lost in this world of technological advancement.”

As for the use of email, personally, I find having more than one email account is more useful. I use an account for school related issues another for personal messages, and one for promotional contest or anonymous online events. This way when my messages are delivered they are properly grouped and categorized upon arrival. Although, Michelle points out that, having too many e-mails and not being able to find a specific message among the many, is one reason why e-mails are not the best way to store and organize information. But e-mails are purposeful to have a place to keep private and personal information that is more directed only to you and for you to see. I agree with Stephanie T. when she wrote, “All in all, I will not abandon email (especially for things that are personal and you are not trying to share with the world.)

Wikkis, allow groups of people, to collaborate in bringing information to a specific site, Wikkis have become the “social software”. These digital tools increase communication thus knowledge between people throughout the organization. These tools have few limitations, it is assumed that almost anything goes, people can then post and discuss anything that is useful to those within an organizations. One thing to take into consideration is the information source. One may question the information's validity. This type of information sharing is encouraged but is only successful if the thoughts are coming from a knowledgeable source. One complaint I have heard concerning wikkis, is its ability to support easy upload of images. But overall the capability of wikki services does better the distribution of knowledge to all that have access. People within an organization always have the option to be connected and obtain answers.

Search engines also serve an important role as far as providing the information to the public, that is available through such sites as wikkis. The increased knowledge gained through wikkis, aggregators and weblogs all perpetuate interest and build thought which will eventually end up on one of the many blog sites. One wikki that has recently caught my attention specifically targets the “no war” campaign, it is titled “No War Wikki”. It gives people who are interested in alternative news sources the opportunity to get their information concerning out present day events that involve foreign countries. Overall these forums give much of the population a place to easily exchange information.

[Un]Made in the USA

Money is makes the world go round. It is the driving force that encourages things to get made and distributed, it is used as a power mechanism and it plays a big part in "comand and control". "Unamde in America: the true cost of a global assembly line" exposes much of what American- made companies do to become internationally based. The essay discusses other concerns dealing with the manufacturing buisness, but the idea of these proud to be American buisnesses not giving job opprotunites to Americans is upseting.

Economic globalization combines human innovation and the integration of economies around the world. The term sometimes also refers to the people of labor and the knowledge of technology across international borders. Globalization allows world trade and financial markets to become more integrated. The spread of knowledge (and technology) acts as an information exchange, this often is overlooked as a part of globalization. For instance, foreign investment brings not only an expansion of capital stock, but also technical innovations. More generally, it brings knowledge about production methods, management techniques and markets that are available at very low cost. This represents a highly valuable resource for the developing countries.

Imbar pointed out that the essay states the fear of the possiblity of one segement of the assembly line or chain to “grab hold of a few strands and start yanking”. Imbar then goes on to say, "basically don’t yank the chain, everything is suppose to run smooth, on time, and consistent. Michelle comments that, "if one thing goes wrong somewhere within the process, the entire production is halted, and this could happen anywhere on the globe", this is simular to the don't pull the chain idea.

Societies across the globe have progressively established closer contacts over time, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Jet fast airplanes, cheap telephone service, email, computers, and so on, have all made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money, along with raw materials move swiftly across the borders. As a result, laws, economies, and social movements are all forming at an international level.

For a funny and easy way to understand the history of globalization view this comic strip. It mentions the fact that America often creates ways to make goods for American companies duty free for little expense. If all this debate over outsourcing has you feeling a bit unpatriotic, speak up! There are a few websites were one can post thoughts and even contact the companies that are highly involved in the buisness of outsourcing. Here are some U.S. companies that either send American jobs overseas, or choose to employ cheap oversea labor rather than American workers: Verizon, Toys R Us, Time Warner, Friut of the Loom, Kodak, Coca Cola, and Bank of America. Barry Lynn asked a good question, "how many of us actually twist around to check what is printed on the labels of our underwear?"