Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at precisely 11:54 a.m., a crowd of approximately 50 students gathered in the Joseph F. Smith Building quad and started dancing silently to music from their headphones. After about one minute, the crowd dispersed and casually walked away, leaving bystanders confused. This seemingly spontaneous event was a flash mob.

Dictionary.com defines a flash mob as "a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre and disperse." Flash mobs have been increasing in popularity over the past few years.

Tyson Fujikawa, a participant in the flash mob, said he heard about it from a group on Facebook.com.

"I checked it out and I liked what I saw, so I decided to participate," Fukijawa said. "I'm all about randomness."

According to the Facebook group, called BYU Flash Mob, members were instructed to sync their watches to a single clock and arrive in front of the statue in the JFSB quad precisely at 11:54 a.m. and no earlier. With headphones in their ears, they were told to dance silently for one minute in a tight group. After the minute passed they were to disperse immediately, as if nothing had happened.

As of Wednesday, the Facebook group consisted of 984 people. Just after the mob occurred, members of the group posted comments about the song they were listening to during the mob, as well as their opinions on the success of the mob and plans for a future mob.

"For a first-timer, I think it was very successful," Fukijawa said. "It accomplished its goal: it was totally random and caused everyone who wasn't a part of it to question what was going on."

Thomas Shaffer, a sophomore from Hershey, Pa., and an active campaign member in the BYUSA elections, stepped away from his campaign booth to join the mob.

"I forgot my Ipod at home and I knew it was a requirement; nonetheless, I imagined the music in my head and danced to it," Shaffer said.

As soon as the mob dispersed, Shaffer returned to his post at the campaign booth.

"After the mob ended, I felt really let down," Shaffer said. "There's such a high energy during the flash mob that it's kind of a downer when it ends."

Both Fukijawa and Shaffer said they hope there will be future flash mob appearances.

"Now that I broke into the flash mob scene - made my debut - I hope to have many more experiences," Shaffer said.

Crismon Turner, a junior majoring in Russian, left class early to witness the flash mob.

"I was a little deflated. It didn't quite meet my expectations," Turner said. "I heard rumors of big things."

While Turner said he would never participate in a flash mob, he liked watching it.

According to Facebook, BYU Flash Mob doesn't have any current plans for a repeat performance yet.



Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Mar 2007