Oh, and "I LOVE BIG BROTHER!!"

This ad reveals the real agenda of cell phone companies- to get us to use our technology to become brainless sheep with only the mentality of the mob to guide our actions.

The poor idiot who is caught acting in a bizarre fashion in the middle of the train station because he thought the "flash mob" (oh yeah, that's productive) was supposed to be taking place around him isn't really the victim here. It's virtually impossible to feel sorry for him- it would be like feeling sorry for that girl who became an internet sensation (not nearly as hard as it sounds) because she walked into the fountain at a shopping mall as her eyes were glued to her cell phone. If you are going to let a piece of technology order you around, if you are going to let that technology manipulate and dominate your life, you'd better expect moments like this.

No, the real victims are the people looking on in disgust. It couldn't be more obvious to me that they aren't pitying this dope because he made a fool of himself. They are pitying him because he made a fool of himself through his poor choice of technology. You see, if he had a cool modern phone with updated connectivity, this never would have happened. He would have known to be a total ass at 12:30, not noon. What an idiot! Let's all give him a condescending look, and then move on. But don't forget- the "flash mob" is still on, in a half an hour.

Why are these people victims? Because they've surrendered. They have cell phones because they have been convinced that what was once a luxury is now a necessity. They are on Facebook because they would not have friends without it, and Everyone Else Is There, right? They accept Tweets because if they didn't, they'd be ostracized. And they willingly engage in "Flash Mobs" because- well, because if they didn't, they wouldn't be part of the Social Network. And what could be worse than that?

It doesn't occur to them that in every step of their devolution from Individual to Faceless Non-person On List that the chain wrapped around their necks has grown tighter, and the sharp yanks on that chain more frequent.

And what is the point of the "Flash Mob?" Does anyone even bother to ask? Or do the people who engage in such things REALIZE that they are nothing more or less than exercises in mass manipulation?

A few years ago, an announcement like "Flash Mob At 12:30" would have resulted in a mass of shrugs and "whatevers." Today (at least for some people) it apparently carries the force of a command. Where not too long ago, the response to a text reading "JUMP!" might have received the response "What For?" Now the more likely response is "How High, and When?"