Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Tweets!

Ciao sound studio listeners! Welcome again to the studio where Obaratone is feeling like some Italiano! In this week's studio jam, we are packing our bags and heading back in time to the time of the Roman Empire. That's not all we're packing though. We're taking all of our computers, cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries, and awesome technology with us! After watching Clay Shirkey's lecture about how modern technology and social media can make history, the sound studio has decided that we're going to change history with our technology! In his lecture, Shirkey discussed the different points in history where media has changed and allowed for more communication: the printing press, telegraph/phone, recorded media (records), and television. The printing press allowed for typed, written word to be mass produced, the phone allowed for 1-to-1 communication, recorded media and TV allowed for one to many communication. The current age we live in is with the internet, which connects many to many. Not only can we communicate with certain individuals, we can communicate with groups of people, with the whole world, in an instant!

So that us thinking: how could history have been different if this technology and means of communication were available at anytime? Well grab your sunglasses and follow the road to Rome, where in Obaratone's new Roman Empire, 21st century social media is everywhere! At the great Colosseum, some gladitorial games are taking place. Gaius Julius Caesar is in his box watching along with the crowd. The fight comes to an end, and the fate of the loser comes down to the people: let him live, or kill him? Caesar shoots his hand out in front of him...and clicks open his Palm Pre. The jumbotron ("The Coloss-o-tron") puts up a new message to the crowd: "If you wish to see the gladiator die, text 'YES' to XVIII. If you wish to see him live, text 'NO' to the same number. Grazie." After a few hesitant moments, the poll comes in to Caesar's phone. He posts the results to Twitter and it is shown on the Coloss-o-tron: DIE.

How else could social media be used in Ancient Rome? Well we all know those pesky blogs would be all over Caesar and his dictatorship. The talking heads would be having a field day with that! But of course Caesar doesn't read any of that. One of his friends sends him a text: "yo, JC, i rlly dont thnk u should hit up da senate 2day. been readin lots of blogs. lot of bad stuff out there bout u." Caesar merely laughs off his friend's warning, replying: "Don't worry, I got this. They can't touch this!" Later that day, the Twitter feed is loaded with tweets saying "RIP Caesar" and "Caesar got pwned!" He should've listened to his friend. Social media could have saved his life if he read those blogs and took his friend's text seriously. So concludes another recording at Obaratone's sound studio! Give the studio some feedback! What else could have been done in Roman times? Video chariot races on the iPhone? There's an app for that. Perhaps the other text Caesar should've listened to, from Brutus: "i got ya back ;)"

-JPO