It seems very strange to me how this all came about. I find it hard to believe people did this, and continue to do such things because it seems ridiculous. These people followed instructions from a complete stranger and for what purpose? They must have had to put a lot of faith into knowing others were there with them, as well. I wonder what it is that made these people decide to do this. This shows how technology has such a huge impact on us as a society. Wasik used email to contact these random people to have them come together to perform flash mobs; something that could not have been done without technology. I wonder if people would have done anything like this prior to technology; say had Wasik just gathered a group to tell them what to do.

 

Wasik was extended by the internet because he was able to connect with these people from all over in order to organize the flash mobs. It helped him to find those people that were willing to do it. Technology extended his abilities to ever start this, and it helped it to become viral, as well. Through technology, flash mobbing has spread and is a huge “meme” now. It has been in movies, on TV shows, and is still being done today. This would have never been possible without technology because it wouldn’t have gone viral. Technology was what created this experiment.

 

I think that Bill Wasik does pursue purpose and meaning in his essay. It seems as though Wasik is trying to show how easily people are swayed by technology nowadays. All it takes is an email to catch someone’s eye in order to gain control over them and get them to do what you want. He put little to no effort into this experiment and the results were huge. It really does show how technology affects us and shows the differences between online contact versus in real life communication. I think he does accomplish what he is trying to do because as a reader of this essay myself, I think I can say that many people would find it alarming how people responded to his email and did what he said with little to no reason or information regarding it. It shows that technology is powerful and can exert control over us. On the other hand, it shows that technology is incredible because it can have such a strong effect on a person.