Graffiti has been popular among the average person for a considerable time. It was common in prehistoric times and prominent and revealing in ancient societies.
Examples of ancient graffiti are striking in that their content varies little from that of contemporary graffiti. The "wuz here" or dirty anecdote found on the wall of a Roman whorehouse would not be at all out of place in the bathroom of an Exxon travel center.
Some notable examples:
Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan!
Lucius painted this.
We have pissed
in our beds. Host, I admit that we shouldn't have done this.
If you ask: Why? There was no potty.
Profit is happiness!
Ingigerth is the most beautiful of all women.
These runes were carved by the man most skilled in runes in the western ocean.