A number of people have asked me why there is so much “buzz” about social media.
To best understand it, and the impact it will have on our lives, we need to go back in history to where communication has changed, and understand how and why it changed.
The change in our lives to social media is only part of a trend that has happened for thousands of years.
Computer and programs like twitter and facebook are really nothing different – they are just accelerating the trend.
For part I of this series, observe the story of the Town Crier.
The Story of the Town Crier
Think back to a small town or city before the printing press was invented.
People likely got all their news from word of mouth.
The townspeople would go to the market or a local tavern and get their information that way.
Advancing armies, famine, new developments in the Senate or the King’s Court – all came from one person to another to another.
Every day, news would arrive at the tavern, and filter out to the rest of the population, as neighbors, co-workers, and other citizens went about their day.
This is the way people got their news about current events for thousands of years.
Until one day the town crier showed up
One day, a young fellow, probably far too drunk far too early in the afternoon, emerged from one of the town’s taverns and staggered through the town square.
Let’s call him Marcus.
Having just heard the news of an arriving messenger about a battle to the north and a wheat shortage to the east, Marcus ran into Bill, a friend of his.
“Hey Bill!” he screamed (as drunk people often do)
“Oh, hey Marcus” replied Bill
“You never would have guessed what happened!” screamed Marcus, even though by now he was only a few feet from Bill. “Caesar’s armies routed the Gauls! We’ve captured the Gaul capital!”
“Really? Wow, that’s good news. That will help my buddy Fred the Blacksmith with his Sword and Shield Business…”
As Marcus was yelling about the event, a few other townspeople gathered around.
“And guess what! Over in Venice they’re going through a bit of a famine! Looks like some of them won’t make it through the winter!” Marcus continued to yell
By now, there were about 20 people gathered around.
These people hadn’t been to the market or the tavern, yet were interested in learning about the day’s events.
“Tell us what happened in Gaul!” one woman asked
“Well, Caesar and his armies…” Marcus started
He probably wasn’t accurate, or right, or making any money off of it, but as he sobered up over the next hour, he recounted (in a far too loud of a voice) all the tales of both the battle and the famine that he had heard in the tavern earlier that day.
The Next Day
The next day, on his trip from the tavern through the square, the townspeople stopped Marcus again and asked him for the day’s events from the tavern.
As Marcus talked, an even larger crowd gathered.
They didn’t pay for the information, Marcus told it freely and happily.
Marcus’s friends probably thought he was an idiot, and probably advised him to go back to his job of carrying bricks.
Regardless, Marcus’s daily update of news from the taverns – with its large crowd – soon became a regular occurrence in the town square.
The Wise Tailor
Near the town square, there was a wise old tailor named Jacob.
Over a few months, Jacob noticed the crowd that Marcus was now attracting on a daily basis.
Seeing an opportunity, Jacobs offered to make Marcus a new set of clothes, at no cost, in exchange for Marcus telling the crowd where he got them.
Marcus had now found a way to visit the taverns full time.
Jacob had now found a new group of customers.
And thus the town crier was born.
Less Friction
Think about what life would be like if you were living in those times.
Your day would be very busy, and without even a horse and buggey to get around town, even walking a mile and back could be a large part of your day.
Instead of having to go to the tavern or the market, you could just go to the town square (which you probably passed through the course of the day anyways) and stop for a few minutes and listen to the town crier yelling the day’s news.
It is because it involved less friction – catching an update as you strolled through the town, instead of actively having to seek the current events – that this form of communication overtook the gossip in the markets and the taverns.
In this situation, even listening to the story told my a drunk like Marcus would mean that there was less friction involved in information flowing.
But How Did they Make Money?
Being a town crier at first probably wasn’t very profitable – I’m sure that many of the best taverns paid good money to ensure that the messengers stopped that their establishments to provide a strong center for word of mouth.
At first, these taverns were probably outraged that somebody like Marcus would go repeat the news – for free – in the town square.
They probably told people he was a liar, he wasn’t reliable, or that the news wasn’t accurate.
They probably sent people to listen to what he had to say, and point out inaccuracies.
However, it’s likely that some of them learned from Jacob the Tailor and started to pay Marcus (in beer or gold) to say a quick word about their establishments.
There was probably no financial motivation at first – but once the traffic increased around Marcus, there was reason to look at the financial potential.
The End Result
The end result of this was that communication changed from one form to another because there was less friction involved for people to have access to information.
People gravitated towards information that required less effort to get.
As the information came towards them, they paid more attention to it.
As they paid more attention to it, money started to flow towards it, and a sustainable method of communication was created.
