Partida 1

Tania Partida
Professor Santosh
English 113B
April 10, 2016
Evolution of the Third Place
The third place theory claims that the third place is any place in our lives other than
work or home where we spend time. The first place is the home and the second place would be
your work. Third places are important to have because they fulfill an individual need, they are
there when we need them, and they define who we are. Third places have evolved due to social
media such as Facebook. Many people use Facebook as a third space which goes to show that we
are losing interest for the real world and are being more actively involved with the cyber world.
Although Facebook is not physically a place where we can go to like for example a Coffee Shop
it is definitely a place where we can go to interact and communicate with others, relax, and have
a good time. Facebook and Coffee Shops are both third places that satisfy and maintain a crowd
of people.
In The Article Addiction or a second chance for a third place? and Social
Networking, the Third Place and Evolution of Communication both the authors agree that
Facebook is a great Third place. Social networking sites satisfy basic human needs such a sense
of belonging and recognition, almost instantaneously (Vella). Social Networking, the Third
Place and Evolution of Communication states that Social networking sites like Facebook and
Myspace and virtual environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft have become online
meeting spaces where users- members, residents, or players- can interact and express

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themselves. These spaces give people a way to represent themselves with a profile or avatar.
These sites also influence the issue of identity where individuals define themselves based on the
responses they get from others. For example if you are in another Third place such as a Coffee
Shop you get a different environment and it might make you feel uncomfortable if you dont
really enjoy socializing directly in person. So for Facebook or other online meeting spaces users
might feel more comfortable sitting behind a screen and using a keyboard rather than speaking
directly to you.
Coffee shops are the most basic places that are commonly known for being third places.
Mathew Dollinger says, When I think about Starbucks, I think about Comfy Chairs, Great
Smells, Pretty People and Wi-Fi. All those details Starbucks has as being a Coffee Shop makes
it a welcoming place for people to choose it as their third place. Mathew Dollinger interviewed a
Manager at a Coffee Shop named Starbucks and the employee mentioned how they try their best
to provide us with all the comforts we get from our homes or office. At a coffee shop you can sit
in a nice chair, drink some coffee, talk on your phone, look out the window, and surf on the web.
During the interview the store manager also claimed that, we approach everything in our store
from a 'What I would want' mentality. The music, the cleanliness, the service... everything has
to be what we would want if we came in as a customer. This means the employees at Coffee
Shops try to cooperate in making the store a friendly environment for being your third place.
Third places are supposed to be your happy place. Andrew Bernhardt and Linda Stoll
mention in their article some features of third places, Third places are places where people visit
on a regular basis, people can drop in, it is okay to linger as long as you want, you see other
people you know there, its acceptable to speak with strangers, and where people discuss local
news and issues (Vella). They view a third place as to somewhere that allows a lot of social

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interaction. I would agree that it is safe to say that Facebook and Coffee Shops reflect those
features. They mention also how Coffee shops are a good third place because they are well
designed, easily accessible, conveniently located, and open when people want to use them and
allow people to linger. Although these features would make the Coffee shop a great third place
they argue how it wouldnt be so great because the social interaction is almost never so frequent.
Christopher Peterson agrees with this argument since he mentions in his article The Good Life,
Starbucks and the like are not third places, at least not when everyone has a cellphone and a
laptop computer and not when ready access to an electrical outlet is more important than
whoever else might be there. He means that people dont really care about the social interaction
in the Coffee shop so therefore it isnt really an ideal third place. I disagree because I believe that
the third places are continuing to grow as long as the ways of communication and the internet are
changing.
The idea of third space is changing over time. The Article named Social Networking,
the Third Place, and the Evolution of Communication discusses how communication is still
changing and that the internet keeps people together. In the article it states, Increasingly, it is the
third place where people connect with friends, watch television, listen to music, build a sense
of togetherness with people across the world, and provide expressions of ourselves which are
themselves forms of communication. The author agrees that the Internet is the third place
because of the benefits it has towards communicating with people. While the internet is
becoming the new third place with many people socializing on it, it is creating new means of
communication, new places to communicate, and new avenues of interaction unfold at a rapid
pace. The author agrees with the idea that Facebook is a third place. Previously when I
mentioned the features of third places I would say Facebook fits those features.

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There are many websites online that can be third places such as Twitter, Facebook,
Skype, Blogs, YouTube, and so many more. All of these online networks help people
communicate through various ways ranging from texts and voice chats to public message boards
or private messaging. In this case I am focusing on just Facebook. Joe Vella says, Peoples
lifestyles have changed significantly during recent years. Social networking sites create a
platform for pleasurable experiences which create communities. He talks about whether or not
Facebook is really a third place. Overall he came to a decision that in fact Facebook has created a
third place for its members. Since Facebook is a great third place because there is no class
structure you determine who you want to be-friend and conversation is the main activity.
Navigating the website is easy. It allows members to add, search, and recommend friends. Its
also low profile making it welcoming. One of the reasons why people return to places like these
is because of the interactions they can have on there, both social and professional.
As long as communication is still changing probably third places will be continuing to
change and maybe even new third places will be created in the near future. Its a great way to
help engage with people and build community. But for now we have third places like Facebook
and Coffee shops.

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Works Cited
1. Joe Vella, Addiction.or a second chance for a third place?, Division of Industrial
Marketing, e-Commerce and Logistics, Lule University of Technology, Sweden,
2. N.P, Social Networking, The Third Place, and The Evolution of Communication, A
White Paper from the New Media Consortium
3. Mathew Dollinger, Starbucks, The Third Place, and Creating the Ultimate Customer
Experience, Fast Company, June 11, 2008
4. N.P, Third Places, The Creation of Place Design Team White Paper
5. Andrew Bernhardt and Linda Stoll, Creating Third Places where communities gather,
Downtown Economics, December 2010
6. Christopher Peterson, The Good Life, Happy Places: Third Places, Psychology Today,
December 1, 2009