But we immediately thought, "What a great M.O.for political protest!" According to the New As the traditional \n The software was not intended for everyday mobile socializing. It When a preliminary version of TXTMob was tested at the Democratic from the New Ever since we participated in our first Flash Mob 18 months ago, we have been speculating on the potential of the phenomena as a method of political protest, The mob we participated in was an inane exercise in theater of … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/fleshmobb.jpg\")
Ever
\n since we participated in our
\n first Flash Mob<\/a> 18 months ago, we have been speculating on the
\n potential of the phenomena as a method of political protest, The mob
\n we participated in was an inane exercise in theater of the absurd –
\n 80 flashers met up as if by chance in the Greeting Card section of
\n the Harvard Coop, and all told the clerks we were looking for a card
\n for our friend Bill. No wonder it was a transitory phenomena.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n disciplined squads of protesters, coordinated by cell phone and pager,
\n assembling like magic from urban background humanity, performing a brief
\n but memorable protest or political action, and melting back into the
\n crowds before the forces of order can arrive and arrest.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n York Times<\/a>, an anonymous hacker who goes by the
\n pseudonym John Henry has created a program named TXTMob that does just
\n that, providing "detailed and nearly instantaneous updates
\n about route changes, street closures and police actions". <\/em><\/p>\n
\n political class cling ever more desperately to power, and turn to protecting
\n their positions with the kind of massive shows of force and intended
\n intimidation we saw in New York and Boston during the political conventions,
\n harnessing technology is the natural
\n way for protesters to fight back<\/a>.
\n Watch for these political flash mobs in an election near you, soon.
\n We predict that by the Presidential elections of 2008, they will be a
\n regular
\n feature of the electoral panorama..<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n was created as a tool political activists could use to organize
\n their work, from
\n staff meetings to street protests. Most of the people using
\n it are
\n on the left: of the 142 public groups listed on the TXTMob
\n site, the largest are dedicated to protesting the Bush administration,
\n the Republican
\n Party or the state of the world in general.<\/p>\n
\n National Convention in Boston in July, about 200 people used
\n it to organize protesters into spontaneous
\n rallies, to warn them about the location of police crackdowns and to
\n direct volunteer medics where they were needed, all in real
\n time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n York Times<\/a><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"