Remember the whole "smart mobs" fad? The word would go out through a "social network" to show up on some street corner at some appointed time. And a few hundred people did it a couple of times, "proving the theory." How many of those happen any more? None. You can convince a mob of people do anything, once. The only reason why these phenomena work is that people love to do what other people are doing. But once they try it and find out it's the same stuff, in a new wrapper, game's up. Now, if you're a marketer, trying to sell the latest version of soap or crackers, this is great stuff. You just convince the people selling the soap or crackers that you know how to control the mob. Even better, convince other marketers that you know how to control marketers. Because that really impresses the people who sell soap and crackers.