Why Audiences Clap

The surprising story of how and where clapping, applause signs and acoustic amplification begin, a few thousand years ago.

We take for granted that we show appreciation for a performance by clapping. If we like it, we clap. The more we like it the more and louder we clap. It is so engrained in us that we think it to be an organic reaction. It isn’t. It started somewhere.

Applause was started by the ancient Greeks. Then it was adopted by the Romans. It is still used to measure appreciation for a performance. In the early days of TV (The Love Connection and others) moved a step forward by replacing a judge deciding which contestant got the most applause and used VU meters to determine the loudest applause.

Then about thirty years ago, Quick Tally Interactive Systems started computer based TV audience voting. Today’s TV shows including the modern version of The Love Connection have all replaced measuring noise with actual voting devices.

Television shows also use another invention from about two-thousand years ago: APPLAUSE SIGNS. They signal the appropriate moments for applause now, as they did when started by Emperor Agustustus – first emperor of the Roman world (27 BCE – 14 CE). He actually pointed an official to signal when to applaud. We do the same thing today – a few thousand later.

The Greeks wore stage masks both to identify the character that they were playing and they also served as megaphones. Their wooden stages also acted as sound amplifiers.

The Romans took amplification another clever step forward. They used bronze and terracotta casks placed alongside the stage to create further amplification.

If you find yourself as an audience member in a TV studio, you might be the only person there who knows why and how clapping and applause signs started.

Give yourself a round of applause!