Flash Mob Gone Wrong by Tom Scott

Tom talks about a flashmob gone very wrong.
Ignite London 2 was co-organised by Amy Thibodeau, Dan Zambonini, Andy Kervell, Craig Smith and Richard Johnson.
Special thanks to The Luminaire owner Andy Inglis. Distributed by Tubemogul.

[@szbnahl]

Tom: Here's a list of real events I based this on. Also Tom: Any similarity to actual events is purely coincidental.

[@rhonan]

I think a number of people are missing the point. When you get a large crowd like that, where people don't know each other, and don't know the area, things can get out of control very fast. Especially given how paramilitary influences have altered our police, I could easily see police over-reacting to a peaceful crowd, and trying to force them into a dead end, triggering panic.

[@KoishiVibin]

WELL, SHIT. You uh you did it. the collective godly council of prophecy fastpitched one at you and you caught it.

[@LSChaosje]

Yesterday it happened in Haren (Groningen) The Netherlands. A girl unintentionally invited all of her Facebook friends for her 16th birthday party. More than 3000 people appeared but there was no party... The get annoyed causing a big riot with a million Euros damage. I think we have not seen the last of it..

[@Serflak]

The fact that it isn't true is...kind of the entire point. Bits and pieces are of the story are true, but they didn't all come together in that fashion (those bits at the end about the flash mob riot at the Gallery Mall Mob in Philly and such? Those actually happened). But the point was that it COULD have been true, that until that disclaimer at the end, we all thought it wasn't just plausible, but possible. And that 2 or 5 or 10 years ago, we would have thought it to be impossible.

[@ericpraline]

I am shocked now that I didn’t doubt that story for *a* *single* second. Just shows what is possible nowadays...

[@KoishiVibin]

So how do you do today?

[@larhonda41]

That took a dark turn there at the end i wasn't expecting lol

[@ThePixel1983]

I had been wondering about "that's the last thing she'll ever type", but yeah...

[@SaintFnordius]

The closing comment is truly poignant: a few years ago, this would have been dismissed as science fiction. Today, it's a situation law enforcement and, well, all of us have to be prepared for. Now imagine it retold in a newscaster voice. It takes away the amusement that the manic speed dictated by the Ignite Speedy restrictions generate. Thanks, Tom!

[@unexpected2475]

January 6th, 2021.

[@runefaustblack]

@@unexpected2475 What?

[@etymological5908]

The world has turned upside down since I first saw this 10+ years ago, and I have, indeed, turned upside down right along with it.

[@skrrskrr]

Tom Scott's 5-minute Black Mirror episode, before Black Mirror.

[@futtahsikk]

this is awesome. well produced and well executed. this guy got a great point across

[@chessversarius2253]

So many comments are more than 6 years old, almost no new ones, wow XD... Also this could still happen, except I HOPE the media wouldn't join in to support it, but you'll never know with some of them.

[@elbowsbuns1896]

"the world turns upside down in 10 years and you turn upside down along with it" Well this is very accurate.

[@FavianTubeX]

I love the animations and the imagery of the things going on in the display next to him, what program can produce a presentation like that?

[@marlonb1852]

FavianTube I think it was a website Tom programmed just for that, but i'm not entirely shure!

[@s6th795]

Adobe After Effects & Premier are quite good, but if you're looking for a free option then there's a few. Blender is quite good when you set up your workspace and even can be better than Adobe, Openshot can do it but it's not the best option if you can afford something else. I would also take a look at some javascript libraries such as processing.js that can do kinetic typography in your web browser and I would also investigate manim.py, made by 3Blue1Brown.

[@meercat1880]

who woulda thought that tom would run a big youtube channel today

[@shatzofhudson]

Great talk!

[@sirlegendhead]

Brilliant!

[@JonasDAtlas]

When someone says the phrase "because no one knows how the riot started", you know you're in deep trouble.

[@JosephHeck]

Brilliant commentary in Ignite format!

[@SciStarborne]

I'm surprised infiltrators haven't used arranging flashmobs as a method of arresting select groups yet. It could be so easy.

[@manaen1lds]

He didn't make this presentation. There is no Tom Scott. It all was computer animation -- as is what you suppose you see through your bedroom window.

[@jtpruzz]

i could see something like this being on the news

[@elbowsbuns1896]

Huh, never seen this tom scott video before. Neat-o

[@rhonan]

@zachpmorgan any number of footy matches. That's his whole point, it just takes a couple of jerks who want to exploit the large crowd for something like this to happen. The Seattle WTO riots were actually calm and peaceful protests until a group of out of town agitators intentionally provoked a police response.

[@Siddif]

Was completely believing it right until the last slide. Though like he said the internet can have the potential to do this, lets just hope it never does go this bad.

[@StevenTheWilson]

How could Stephen Fry single-handedly murder all those people by supporting such an act?!? He always seems like such a nice, timid fellow. I'm sure the guilt will haunt him for the rest of his life... @crispycrab Because she ends up being murdered during the mob. And yes, I did notice that it's fictional...

[@1234aabc]

Wow. The internet is incredible. Incredible, but scary.

[@0mathew0]

tom scott is great

[@CrispinFreemont]

I surrender at five seconds. This guy's accent + urgent delivery is an ice pick stabbing my eardrums.

[@SlightyDisturbedNBK]

A very plausible situation. Information if used correctly can be beneficial. But (even though this is just fiction) sites like 4chan can be very dangerous with information, I would pretty happy to see the back of 4chan.

[@CairoArabic]

Does anyone know what was used to make the slides for this presentation?

[@NumbSkull34]

god damn it... i realy wanted this story to have a happy ending :(

[@MsMadKim]

So the story isn't real?

[@megarockman]

+MsMadKim Specifically, the direct series of events Tom presented isn't. But he notes in Slide 19 that each of the components have at separate times.

[@1224chrisng]

it could very well be

[@R4d4mantus]

Quite plausible actually. And quite scary as well.

[@xzbyte2002]

The internett, we love you

[@minusstrike]

o.O, It does not surprise me, anonymous is a powerful person.

[@ThePeacant]

@Serflak Yes, this is all possible, but what does that prove? Many horror stories are possible, and many worse ones happen all the time

[@svengalisvengali]

Well, I can't get that 5:40 back.

[@neoncyber2001]

I just tweeted this and posted on face book. Is that ironic?

[@michaelw9285]

@zachpmorgan 1986?

[@bramschaafsma]

I blame Fry and no one else

[@IzzabellaFlynn]

whats the video?

[@andrethegiant6969]

Oh goodness, read the last slide at 5:01, he's explaining how each of those scenarios has already happened, maybe not the murder and such. But it's a believable story to all of us now. People need to calm down, go play some Pikmin for gamecube, you never did finish it and it was pretty fun, but you kinda forgot about it cause FF9 came out. Don't worry, it forgives you.

[@frochi]

@Rasheeke No shit? Who are you?!? Captain obvious?? Is that a rock?

[@BusDriverGames]

just googled it. nothing came up, cant be real, the internet said so.

[@Unclesamslair]

anon would never turn violent irl. They're too cowardly for that. They've never been violent before irl

[@keisisqrl]

@ForceUser You missed the point.

[@endlosschleife]

@Stirnbernd Yes, but that was a melting kettle. Nothing like that ever happened when the love parade took place in Berlin's streets.

[@Stirnbernd]

@montavilla oh, it can happen.. you've obviously never been to a love parade...

[@hamneggwich]

@Becbumps I think you missed the point, lol

[@rg0057]

But... did she died?

[@ndu192]

... RIP jacqs in that case?

[@DonGoliath]

killah !

[@shastninxations2962]

Lmfao :p

[@georgeofthajungle]

haha like that many internet users are that social and active...

[@Danosuke]

Just having a large group does not mean there will be a riot. The one instance they cite as "already happened" was not a riot at all. There was no reported property damage or injuries. This is pointless fear mongering.

[@ForceUser]

Well that was a great presentation up until it's revealed its fake, and I don't believe any 4chan event has ever gotten violent.

[@PureNasher]

@JesusTheGardener Read the last slide.

[@Unclesamslair]

@Skyrius I think the burden of proof falls on you, I can't prove a negative, but if you can show me one example in which anon did more than just phone in empty threats, you'd prove your point.

[@JesperChalmer]

So yesterday i saw this young woman eating a baby!!! Or that's not true, but it could've happened, shocking right? - i guess the world turns, scary shit

[@clearmenser]

+9001!!!

[@brickct123]

Now to be a troll: Did she died?

[@fashnek]

Particularly relevant today with social media's role in the London rioting....

[@Killraine]

@camerabbit it wasn't real

[@Everfalling]

this just happened to an extent. no deaths but one hell of a flashmob/party for a somewhat unsuspecting victim: watch?v=xxDTe-T__dQ

[@mooseclamps]

@egokick try 10 out of 10

[@retrac1324]

FYI: Fictional story. Read the last slide.

[@funwithphobias]

I loved the nonchalant way he reported the invasion of Jacqueline's home and her subsequent murder. Kinda blew the entire presentation.

[@vincent21212]

There weren't enough people within a 1 hour radius of her who could've been interested in that video. The vid was stupid.

[@GarethStack]

The weak link in this story is the violence. Flashmob turning to a riot is certainly possible, especially given the policing tactics of the Met. But multiple fatalities, given the demographics of the 'rioters' is ludicrous. Worse, it's bringing BOFH geek prejudices about collaboration and large amorphous groups of people to the debate on the side (implicitly) of increased surveillance, censorship and top down governance.

[@entropyzero5588]

Yeah, violence is a bit unrealistic in this exact scenario - but injuries or even deaths don't have to be malicious - they can just be accidents. And a big mass of unsupervised people in some place that's not meant for this many people? That can have catastrophic results. Google "Loveparade 2010"

[@human_no847]

I thought he was loosely referring to some incident in the middle east (Egypt?) where a news reporter was seriously assaulted in the middle of a large crowd. Or any large gathering that turns violent such as a political protest.

[@Ootori_sama]

enlighten us, but make it quick = you can share with us what you have to say, but we don't really care.

[@spacewarpphotography1667]

That's scary, because it's plausible. And I hope her ex was wracked with guilt about that for years!!

[@DrAbhinavKumar]

The story isn't real. But every event is. Only at different times

[@skyrius5568]

@Unclesamslair ........*laughs nervously* I think you'll need to do a bit more digging.

[@kickinapouch]

try 13/10, people not even there and those yet to be born would have/will enjoy it

[@Ryuuken24]

Well, I don't think it went that bad, Jaqueline did die, I mean, it was the point of the boyfriend's wish, what was bad about that ?

[@TheRandomguy06]

when ever I see him with a ponytail I cringe

[@DZrache]

...because he cut all that beautiful hair off? Same.

[@elbowsbuns1896]

@@DZrache same

[@estoqueTV]

trololololoolololololololololololo

[@3Gyro]

OH, THE FICTIONAL HUMANITY!

[@grauntlet]

pecha kucha sucks

[@ProjectDystopia]

Be AFRAID OF THE INTERWEBS......(what rubbish!!)

[@2tri749]

from who?

[@ProjectDystopia]

@@2tri749 I said this ten years ago, I don't even remember this.

[@pukabowers]

what a waste of time

[@sawsher99]

Gay