ThinkJose points us to the phenomenon of flash mobs. Wikipedia defines flash mobs as “a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse.”
The original flash mobs were intended to be pointless other than to highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity. However, flash mobs are often formed with the purpose of making a very pointed statement.
We should be quite cognizant of the influence of numbers of people all shouting the same thing. Both organizers and participants should be very careful in the wielding of this kind of power. Sorry, Machiavelli, might does not make right.
