Flashmob? You decide!

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NORTHAMPTON — Was Bridge Street School’s celebration on Thursday a flashmob or a smartmob?

Here are some definitions of those terms, coined in 2003, from the online encyclopedia Wikepedia that might help you decide:

∎ “A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire and artistic expression. Flashmobs are organized via telecommunications, social media or viral emails.

∎ The term flashmob, “is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relations firms or paid professionals. In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.”