Flash Mobbing?

Our discussions for the past few weeks have concerned memes. If you have forgotten a meme is a theoretical unit of cultural information according to Wikipedia. Generally memes are like viruses in the way that they spread. That is, they spread from person to person seemingly unknowingly. Memes have been around since the dawn of man, and they continue to come about and propagate themselves today.
A specific type of meme that we have been focusing on recently is the flash mob. A flash mob is defined as a group of people who gather in a usually predetermined location, perform some usually brief action, and then disperse according to Word Spy. The first flash mob was organized by a man named Bill Wasik, who claims to work in the culture industry, in a Macy’s department store in downtown Manhattan. He claims that he got the idea for the flash mob from theatre. He was interested in why people got to see performing arts and he wanted to see what would happen if the performances were taken out of the equation. A truly deep question. Wow, Bill, is that the best thing that you have to do with your time?
I must admit I do not fully understand flash mobs, their participants, their reasons, or their implications. I am decidedly biased. I do not understand why they exist or continue to exist beyond my understandings of social interaction. Thus I do not know everything about them , and some people may think that my opinion is narrow.
Here are a few possible reasons for the popularity of flash mobbing. First, maybe it is a result of our society’s descent into autonomy. Is it possible that people are so bored with their everyday lives that they resort to flash mobbing to liven up their day. Maybe people are just so used to entertainment and aesthetic pleasure today that we seek out new ways to find amusement for ourselves. Maybe people do this because they are trying to feel included socially, when their work and everyday life may leave them with a feeling of isolation or exclusion.
One thing is for sure there does not seem to be any clear benefit to the participants of flash mobbing. This seems to lead us to believe that the last possible cause of flash mobbing is the best choice. After all, it is the only scenario that offers some sort of benefit or gain to the participants.
I do not know. In fact, I do not understand the phenomenon much. I am only offering some possible causes.