Smart mob - Definition and Overview

Smart mob is a concept introduced by Howard Rheingold in his book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. A recently established form of social coordination made possible by using modern technology, such as the Internet and wireless devices like mobile phones and PDAs, a "smart mob" is a group that, contrary to the usual connotations of a mob, behaves intelligently or efficiently because of its exponentially-increasing network links. Parallels are made to, for instance, slime moulds.

Essentially, the smart mob is a practical implementation of collective intelligence. According to Rheingold, examples of smart mobs are the street protests organized by the anti-globalization movement. Another example is the text messages that were sent in the Philippines, which are thought to be partly responsible for the demonstration that ousted former President Joseph Estrada. Examples of such a text message read "Wear black to mourn the death of democracy", "Expect there to be rumbles" and "Go to ESDA".

See also

• Collaborative software
• Collective intelligence
• E-democracy
• Flash mob
• Internet democracy
• Recommendation system
• Virtual community

External links

• Howard Rheingold website (http://www.smartmobs.com/index.html)
• "The Pager Revolution" (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2001/0129/cover1.html) - TIME magazine.

Example Usage of Smart