DATE=10-10-03

TYPE=Special English Feature

NUMBER=7-29044

TITLE=SPECIAL ENGLISH AMERICAN MOSAIC #943 - Flashmobs

BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach

TELEPHONE=619-2585

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Arditti

CONTENT=

HOST:

Have you ever taken part in a flash mob? Do you even know what a flash mob is? Well, here is Shep O'Neal to explain.

ANNCR:

A flash mob is where young people suddenly gather in a large group for no apparent reason. Flash mobs can involve hundreds of people. The people do not all know each other. But they all meet at the same time, then leave the area quickly. A flash mob can be held for any reason, but usually just to have some fun. The people involved in a flash mob do not know the time or place of the meeting until just minutes before it takes place. They get the details from a Web site, or by e-mail or as a text message on their wireless phone.

What do people do at flash mobs? Flash mobbers in a store will all ask for the same product. On a street, they may sing a song at the same time. Or shout meaningless words. Or hug each other. Or make some kind of noise. Then, just as quickly as they came, they leave. It all happens in a flash.

Flash mobbing reportedly started in New York City. But some say the first ones were in Europe. However it got started, flash mobbing has become popular around the world. Flash mobs have been reported in Japan, Britain, Germany, New Zealand, and at many colleges and universities in America.

The founder of the New York mob is known as Bill. He began with a list of fifty people. The list grew over time. Now, international flash mobbers are said to number in the tens of thousands.

Last month, the American cartoonist Gary Trudeau used his "Doonesbury" comic strip to call for a flash mob. He told people to gather at the bottom of the Space Needle in Seattle, in the Pacific Northwest. He told them to link arms, form a circle, jump up and down and yell "the doctor is in!" The purpose of the gathering was to support Howard Dean, one of the Democratic presidential candidates and also a doctor.

About one-hundred people went, but said it was not a real flash mob since it was not called electronically. They say flash mobbing shows how computers and the Internet are linking people.

So, are you ready to join a flash mob? No, we are not going to call one -- not unless you could all get to Washington at the same time! But we will tell you how to learn more about flash mobs. There are Web sites, including flashmob dot com and flashmob dot info.