On every summer trip I take to Boston, I always try to make some time to walk around Quincy Market. On a clear day several street performers will be stationed at various spots around the historic market demonstrating a talent or performing some sort of act. Some attract a few tourists as they walk past. The seasoned performers can build a crowd of hundreds within a few minutes.
I’ve been thinking a lot about these street performers lately and how an online crowd can build just as quickly. Like the audiences gathering outside Quincy Market, these online crowds often share an interest or purpose. Most of the people in the crowd have never met – and most will never see each other again.
This morning, one such crowd of people across the globe formed around a common event: a temporary glitch in Google’s search results pages. Hundreds of Twitter users reported their experience in an effort to determine the scope of the problem.
And while it’s widely known that famous Twitterers can garner follower crowds of thousands on the microblogging site, there was no better example of the speed of crowd formation than when Soleil Moon Frye, an actress best known for the title role in the TV series Punky Brewster, began to tweet. Within 24 hours of her first tweet, more than 3,000 people were following her account.
Twitter may be considered an for digital street performers. As we continue to see, online crowds hold much more power to engage with those stationed outside the online Quincy Market.
Photo by Ecnerwal.
