One of the most difficult decisions in talking about the history of any aspect of computing, or even of technology as a whole, is to decide when it started. When, for instance, did social networking begin? With Facebook in 2004? MySpace in 2003? With CompuServe in 1969?
How about Pompeii, 79? (No, not 1979 — just 79.)
I know. Hacky. But there is some truth to the notion that the walls of the houses and apartment insulae in the Italian city of Pompeii (and the other cities lying at the hinge between the Roman Republic and the Empire) created the original form of social networking—right down to the practice of bandwidth throttling.
Writing on walls with charcoal and inscri…
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