Smart Mobs

I thought Rheingold's article was intriguing. My blog today relates to a scenario in which I was, at one time, part of a "smart mob."
Back in high school all the seniors played this squirt-gun game and had so much fun doing it. So, two years ago, my friends and I organized this game where you paired up with a partner and you two were against all the other teams. The object of the game was to use a squirt-gun to get your opponent out. This was an intense game that required a fellow friend (who wasn't playing the game) to keep track of who had been "hit" and therefore out of the game. Anyway, once it gets down to the last few people, friends try and help each other out. In some cases, like my example that I will explain in a few minutes, people let fellow players know where their opponents were so that they wouldn't win. So, my team was still in and a friend of mine sent out a mass text message to let everyone know where this specific team member was going to be at a certain time (that happen to be set up just for the purpose of this game). You only have to get one of the two teammates out for the entire team to be considered out. As soon as we all received the message, we carefully designed a game plan as to how each one of us were going to get this person out without being "hit" by another team. This form of mass communication through the device of a cell phone is a useful way to send out information effectively and quickly. This is my example of what Rheingold means when he says "It's not just about building the tools anymore. Now it's about what people use the tools to do."

Rheingold makes this comment about technological devices, like the mobile phone, that were created with a certain intention in mind. However, as times are changing these devices are converging into other technological uses. The way in which we use the devices matters more than the actual device itself. Why would you build another device for the sole purpose of sending a mass text to friends when it can be added to something that already has the capability to do that? Rheingold discusses the use of mobile phones to communicate with a group of people in order to get together and meet for a common goal. In this case, we got together so that we could get a team out of the game that had been hard to locate the whole time. Not only was this a common goal for the remainder of the teams but it brought us together simultaneously. All we had to do was check our phones and see the message, then meet at the specific time and place. Like Rheingold has said, the purpose of these "smart mobs" hasn't always been for good use. Sometimes there are bad intentions in mind, such as riots, lynch mobs, or protests (which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it). This form of technological convergence will allow people to live a more convenient lifestyle but also leaves room for harmful side effects. This is Rheingold's main theory about devices used for the purpose of "smart mobs" and how we are using these devices in more ways to communicate with one another. We are converging these devices in ways for us to communicate easier.