Editing Flash mob (section)

==Use of the term==
The first documented use of the term ''flash mob'' as it is understood today was in 2003 in a blog entry posted in the aftermath of Wasik's event.<ref name="Wasik2" /><ref name="Wasik"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://observer.com/2014/06/the-new-york-times-magazine-names-bill-wasik-deputy-editor/|title=The New York Times Magazine Names Bill Wasik Deputy Editor|newspaper=[[The New York Observer]]|date=June 10, 2014|author=Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke|access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref> The term was inspired by the earlier term ''smart mob''.<ref name=wordspy >{{cite web | url = http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp | title = flash mob | first = Paul | last = McFedries | author-link = Paul McFedries | publisher = Logophilia Limited | work = WordSpy.com | date = July 14, 2003 | access-date = March 14, 2006 | archive-date = March 15, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060315154645/http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp | url-status = dead }}</ref> 

Flash mob was added to the 11th edition of the ''[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]'' on July 8, 2004, where it noted it as an "unusual and pointless act" separating it from other forms of smart mobs such as types of performance, protests, and other gatherings.<ref name="COED"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3876017.stm|title=Henry inspires English dictionary|publisher=BBC|date=July 8, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2010}}</ref> Also recognized noun derivatives are flash mobber and flash mobbing.<ref name="COED"/> ''[[Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English]]'' defines ''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."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6) | title = flash mob | url = http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flash%20mob | access-date =April 27, 2007
}}</ref>  This definition is consistent with the original use of the term; however, both news media and promoters have subsequently used the term to refer to any form of smart mob, including political protests;<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3496030.stm | title = Putin protest by flash mob |work=BBC News | date = February 28, 2004 | access-date =May 3, 2007 }}</ref> a collaborative Internet [[denial of service]] attack;<ref>{{cite news | first = Steven | last = Musil | title = This week in Web threats: The Internet is always good for a little fear and loathing | url = http://news.cnet.com/This+week+in+Web+threats/2100-7349_3-5572700.html | work = CNET News | publisher = [[CNET]] | date = February 11, 2005 | access-date =May 3, 2007 }}</ref> a collaborative [[supercomputing]] demonstration;<ref>{{cite news | first = Celeste | last = Biever | title = A Flash mob to attempt supercomputing feat | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4826 | work = [[New Scientist]] | issn=0262-4079|oclc= 2378350 | date = March 29, 2004}}</ref> and promotional appearances by pop musicians.<ref>{{cite news | first = Elysa | last = Gardner | title = Avril Lavigne, in the flesh, at 'flash mob' appearances | url = http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2004/02/27/384917?extID=10051 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014144701/http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2004/02/27/384917?extID=10051 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |work=[[USA Today]] | date = February 27, 2004 | access-date =September 22, 2021}}</ref>  The press has also used the term ''flash mob'' to refer to a practice in China where groups of shoppers arrange online to meet at a store in order to drive a collective bargain.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/ChinasNewShoppingCrazeTeamBuying.aspx | title = China's new shopping craze: 'Team buying' | work = Christian Science Monitor | date = December 5, 2007 | access-date = February 12, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110714123816/http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/ChinasNewShoppingCrazeTeamBuying.aspx | archive-date = July 14, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 19th-century [[Tasmania]], the term ''flash mob'' was used to describe a subculture consisting of female prisoners, based on the term ''flash language'' for the jargon that these women used. The 19th-century Australian term ''flash mob'' referred to a segment of society, not an event, and showed no other similarities to the modern term ''flash mob'' or the events it describes.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Flash Mob |url=http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006203135/http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/convicts.htm#Flash |archive-date=October 6, 2007 |access-date=October 23, 2007 |work=Cascades Female Factory Historic Site |publisher=Female Factory Historic Site Ltd. |df=mdy-all}}</ref>