(Thanks, Elisa! Via EastSouthWestNorth)

The China Venture Blog opines about smart mobs, and the suppression thereof, in China:

Smart Mobs make headlines in China because–er… don’t make headlines in China because it is the main reason the government fears and puts controls on the Chinese Web and SMS system. Their thoughts: Smart Mobs = Tiananm3n Square on steroids.

The perfect example is the anti-Japanese protests of last year. The government initially orchestrated the protests, believing it an ideal way to promote nationalism while venting pent up political frustrations. But they lost control, as smart mobs were spontaneously organized on BBS’s (bulletin boards) and behaved intelligently on the ground thanks to SMS. The government witnessed a dry rehearsal for a BBS and SMS enabled regime change. On September 26, 2005, Beijing News reported on new regulations on the Internet banning incitement of demonstrations on the Internet (original Chinese text). The regulations include BBS and SMS mobile text messaging.

Because of this and many other cases from in and outside China, the concept of smart mobs are often described in terms of their potential for political dissidence and social upheaval.

I believe the concept of smart mobs should not be limited to these terms. Smart mobs are the result of a bigger phenomenon: the Web as a facilitator for our face-to-face interactions.