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Review
. 2021;11(1):97.
doi: 10.1007/s13278-021-00810-7. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Flash mob: a multidisciplinary review

Samer Al-Khateeb  1 , Nitin Agarwal  2
Affiliations
Review

Flash mob: a multidisciplinary review

Samer Al-Khateeb et al. Soc Netw Anal Min. 2021.

Abstract

Since the year 2003, the term "flash mob" has been studied in various disciplines and was referred to by various media outlets to describe various events. The term "flash mob" originally meant to describe a phenomenon in which a group of people assembles in a public space, perform a seemingly random act, then quickly disperse. This phenomenon was expected to die just like other types of public performances, e.g., the eighties' raves. However, this phenomenon is still alive and became widespread in various forms. Since this phenomenon was new, mentioned in the media, and depended on technology, it is unwise to assume that everyone knows its exact meaning. Many traditionalist flash mobbers become concerned that the global diffusion of flash mobs has diluted their original meaning. So, in this summative, chronological, and by topic literature review article, we explore the disciplines in which this term was used; then investigate its various forms and propose the term "Mob" to be the root term so we can categorize its various forms (branches) and eliminate ambiguities; and prove that this phenomenon still exists. Finally, we try to shed light on what is missing from the literature and what needs to be studied in the future with regard to this topic.

Keywords: Deviant cyber flash mob; Flash mob; Mob; Rob mob; Smart mob; Social media.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestNot applicable.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Trend graph of the five most searched terms worldwide. Flash mob is the most searched term for the past 16 years. Note that this is how far back Google Trends allows us to go
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Co-authors network of our selected bibliography
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
All the Mob subcategories found in the literature categorized based on our three factors: agenda, synchronicity, and the existence of violent acts
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Our mob categorization based on our literature review findings
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The mob organization process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alassad M, Hussain MN, Agarwal N. Comprehensive decomposition optimization method for locating key sets of commenters spreading conspiracy theory in complex social networks. CEJOR. 2021 doi: 10.1007/s10100-021-00738-5. - DOI
    1. Alassad M, Spann B, Agarwal N. Combining advanced computational social science and graph theoretic techniques to reveal adversarial information operations. Inform Process Manag. 2021;58(1):102385. doi: 10.1016/j.ipm.2020.102385. - DOI
    1. Alassad M, Spann B, Al-khateeb S, Agarwal N (2019) Using computational social science techniques to identify coordinated cyber threats to smart city networks. In: Joint international conference on design and construction of smart city components, pp 316–26. Springer
    1. Al-khateeb S, Agarwal N. Developing a conceptual framework for modeling deviant cyber flash mob: a socio-computational approach leveraging hypergraph constructs. J Digit Forensics Secur Law. 2014;9(2):10.
    1. Al-khateeb S, Agarwal N (2014b) Modeling flash mobs in cybernetic space: evaluating threats of emerging socio-technical behaviors to human security. In: 2014 IEEE joint intelligence and security informatics conference, pp 328–328. IEEE

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