TikTok isn’t new. It’s been around for thousands of years

Nick Hayes
Dec 4, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Dec 9, 2025

Key Points

Social media mirrors ancient theater by returning audiences to a rowdy and interactive state.
The "Media Gap" is gone because modern technology allows viewers to respond to creators instantly.
Audiences are now "Agents" who actively participate and create meaning rather than just passive numbers.
Algorithms still hold power by deciding what content is available on the menu before you even start scrolling.

So I’m slogging through a textbook for my Digital Media degree the other day. 📚

I’m reading about “Audience Theory.”

(Sounds thrilling, I know. Try to contain your excitement.)

But as I’m reading, I realized something wild.

We tend to think of “The Audience” as this polite group of people sitting in a dark movie theater, quietly eating popcorn. 🍿

But historically? That is actually the exception, not the rule.

In fact, the way we use TikTok and Instagram today isn’t “new.”

It’s actually a return to how things used to be 2,000 years ago.

Here are 3 things I learned in class that explain exactly why your feed feels the way it does.

1. We Were Never Meant to Be Quiet 🗣️

Back in the days of ancient theater, being an audience member was a contact sport.

It was interactive.

Citizens would scream, debate, and throw stuff during the play. The audience was part of the event.

But then?

The Romans ruined the party.

They turned public performance into “controlled entertainment.” They wanted to distract citizens, not engage them.

“Sit down. Shut up. Watch the show.”

Then the printing press came along and separated us even further. We became private readers, sitting alone in our houses.

Scholars call this The Media Gap.

It’s the distance between the Creator and the Audience. For a long time, that gap was huge. You couldn’t yell at the TV screen and expect the news anchor to hear you.

But today? The Gap is gone.

Social media has returned us to that early, rowdy state.

We aren’t just watching. We are commenting. We are stitching. We are remixing.

We are once again screaming at the actors on stage.

2. The Battle: Are You a “Target” or an “Agent”? 🎯

There is a constant war in marketing between how brands see us... and how we see ourselves.

James Webster (a smart guy who studies this stuff) says there are three ways to look at an audience:

Audience-as-Outcome: The media brainwashes you. You are passive. You do what the TV says.
Audience-as-Mass: You are a number in a spreadsheet. (This is how TV networks see you—just eyeballs to sell to advertisers).
Audience-as-Agent: This is the modern reality. You are the main character.

This is the difference between looking at data vs. looking at meaning.

Example: A brand runs an ad for a chew toy.

The Data View: “Success! 10,000 people saw this ad!”
The Meaning View: “Fail! 5,000 of those people hated it because they own cats.” 🐈

Context creates meaning. And you (the Agent) are the one creating it.

3. The Illusion of Control (Who is actually driving?) 🚗

So, if we are “Agents” now... does that mean we have all the power?

Not exactly.

Power in media is a balance of two things: Structure and Agency.

Agency is your ability to scroll past a video, leave a nasty comment, or block a creator.
Structure is the algorithm, the guidelines, and the big tech company that owns the servers.

Think of it like a school assignment. 📝

The deadline is the Structure (it limits you). The education is the Agency (it enables you).

Here is the scary part:

Even though we have more tools to respond than ever before... the house still wins.

We think we are choosing what to watch. But the “Structure” (the algorithm) decided what was on the menu before you even opened the app.

We are consenting to ideas without realizing it.