Julalak 1

Julalak Boonleerawat
Professor Santosh Khadka
English 113A TuTh
9 April 2016
Exceptional cases of Shopping mall and Facebook not being Third Place
People in this century have nothing much more than go to work and then go
back home. This is basic routine that most people are familiar with. Home is considered as the
first place, since it is the literally be the primary area in which normal people spend their life
time then they have to do something for living, so the second place or work place comes up.
Those two places contain a lot of things that we have to be responsible be for. At times, both of
them cause people severe stress, moreover it seems very hard to do well in both office and
home. Solving this problem, individuals look for a transitional place/space which help them
transfer rapidly from what we have been through to other positions. This space called Third
place. According to Ray Odenburg , there are 8 characteristics of third place, they are neutral
ground, leveler, conversation, accessibility and accommodation, regulars, low profile, playful
mood, and home away from home. Without awareness of those characteristics, some spaces are
considered as a third spaces superficially causing misunderstanding. The obvious example of
physical and digital spaces which look like third places, but actually they are not are shopping
malls and Facebook. Lacking of three important characteristics, neutral ground, leveler, and
playful mood, both shopping mall and Facebook are not a third spaces, because they do not have
boundary between the first and the second places, equality to access, and playful mood
encouragement.
The key of being transitional spaces are being isolated from the places which generate

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hardships in life. According to Ray Odenburg (1999), he states that A third place must be
separated from the first place or second place, and that it does not require one to perform as if
they are in their home or work arena (p. 22). To be a third place, spaces should help
individuals mind set get away from their serious issues generated by their work and home.
Unfortunately, there is no boundary between the first and the second spaces, because things from
the first and the second places usually have something to do with individuals shopping and
using Facebook, moreover they have a great impact on their decisions. The main purpose
going to the mall for most people is to shop. If you look at your shopping behavior carefully, you
will find that most of things that we buy is to serve workplace and home. For example, we buy
new clothes for wearing to work, new furniture to decorate home or office, and new technology
devices for support our work and entertain at home. These shows that both first and second place
get involved in directly, moreover they are the important factors that control our shopping
decisions. For example, when I went to the mall to buy a computer, there were a lot of choices,
but what made me take an action toward the one that Im using now was necessity for academic
and financial support from my family. I had to chose the computer with ability to support my
academic field. As Im a student in Cinema of Television Arts major, I had to buy the computer
that work well in editing video and creating animation, whereas I had to consider about
ability to afford it from money that was sent from my parents. I couldnt buy whatever I wanted.
Similar to Facebook, stuffs from work place and home are always there. You can find people
who always complain about their life on Facebook easily on your timeline. Even you dont want
to know, they are still there and you cant help but see it as you scroll down. Another case
is more intense. Some people can easily be banded from their post on Facebook. Although we all
have a right to post any thing we want on Facebook, but the truth that they have to accept is it

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would never go away. Even they have already deleted, it can still cause negative effect in the
future. According to Jessica Elizabeth, a bartender at a high-end Chicago nightclub. Posted a
status on her personal Facebook page about one race of people being incompetent and
disgusting cost her job. These show that shopping mall and Facebook are unable to be neutral
ground, because they are always affected by the first and second place in such a way that we
cant help but accept it.
Places can not be considered as a third place when they choose to serve only particular
groups of people. According to Ray Odenburg (1999), he states that Third place must be
accessible to the general public. It does not set formal criteria of membership and exclusion
(p.24). Both shopping mall and Facebook obviously dont meet this characteristic. Malls are
places that are created to sell products and services. To run business for the best satisfaction for
customers, malls provide security and some regulations which sometimes turn to be exclusion for
some people. To prove that this statement is true, think about homeless. How many time you see
homeless in shopping mall? only very few of them are able to sneak inside shopping mall,
because there are security guards in all entrances. Not every homeless harms people or causes
damages. They have a right to go everywhere they want, but sadly they cant access shopping
malls. Another case is pet prohibition. Pets which are considered as a family member for some
people are not allowed to go inside most stores by being afraid of causing damages and germ
(A picture of animal prohibition sign in front of Tea
Room, Hollywood.)

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(especially in the areas which sell food). This regulation

blocks not only pet, but also pet owners sometimes, because
they can not leave their pet inside the car alone, therefore
they will not frequent those areas. Even now there are
pet friendly stores, they are still not widespread. Malls are
places which do set the criteria to specialize some group of people. For example, looking at the
malls parking lot, there are spaces that are reserved only for VIP membership. Even on a busy
weekend which everyone lines up for parking, but spaces for VIP membership are still empty
waiting for Very Important Person to park there. Another well known case is Costco, a
membership-only store. Costco provides good deal of wholesale, but it is accessible only for
membership. We cannot just walk in to buy whatever we want without membership there and
there is no free membership. According to G.E. miller, he provides information about Costco
membership that to get access to that kind of pricing theres a cost to just get in the door.
Costco memberships range from $55 (per household) to $110 (for the executive plan, which has
a 2% kickback). And he also answers the popular question from customer about free
membership that Unfortunately, there is no free Costco membership, day pass, guest pass, or
trial period where you can walk up to the door and get some kind of magic wristband for a day,
or something. This mean people who is not their membership are considered as exclusion to
access this space. Similar to Facebook, not everyone can access Facebook. According to Tim
Fizsimons, 4.4 billion people in the world still dont have internet access, so they are unable to
access Facebook. Some people may suggest them to use free public internet, it works but not in
all cases. Although some have internet, it doesnt mean Facebook is available for them.
According to Flare, some social medias like Twitter and Facebook are banned in China as it is
considered as politically sensitive, so even people in China have both communication devices

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and internet, they cant access Facebook anyway.

Shopping mall and Facebook seems to be spaces for having fun and relaxing, but at times
they cause people more stress. Shopping malls are not spaces for people who do not have money.
It is the place created to serve capitalism and objectivism cycle. Spending time in shopping mall
increases demand of buying. The more they go there, the greater their demand, the more money
they have to earn to please themselves. It is not easy to go to there and leave with only what you
came to buy. The temptation to see is always present and often leads to buying things that are not
necessary. Keeping a monthly budget is becoming increasingly difficult to go to the mall. With
all sales and specials designed to tempt buyers, say no becomes very difficult. The thing is not
everyone can afford their demands. There are two ways that people choose to response to their
demand, first is restrain themselves. Due to this decision sometimes they cannot help feeling
inferior and playful mood is taken away. The second is following their hearts buying what they
want. Even they seem to be playful, but deep down they know what they have to face at the end
of the month. When the bills call for them to pay. From the word Playful will be turned to
Payfull immediately. Playful mood can not be created in both first and second decisions.
For Facebook, think about how many children were bullied in there. According to research
from website No bullying.com, they state that "From youth polled, 75% of them use facebook
and 54% of those experienced cyberbullying". This study shows that Facebook which seems to
be a place to share good moments with others is often abused and it does not give playful mood
like many think it does.
Some people may consider shopping mall and Facebook as a third place. I do not say
they are wrong. As long as, shopping mall and Facebook make them feel better from things they
have been through. Not everyone faces the same problem. For instance, some people have ability

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to pay for whatever they want, so they may not feel inferior and shopping become playful
activity for them, or they may leave in free country like US which everyone has freedom to
access any website. But if you think that both shopping mall and Facebook are your third place
and there are anytime that you experience the situations that I talk about and it gives you a hard
time. You should question yourself that are they the true third place for you? Are there any other
place that can serve you better?
Not everyplace is able be considered as a third place. Third place should be the
transitional place that makes people calm down before going to the next position. Lacking of
some characteristics like neutral ground, leveler and playful mood, Going to malls and using
Facebook do not help people feel better, instead they emphasize inequality, bring more pressure,
and gather stuffs from both workplace and home. It is very importance for everyone to choose
third places precisely as it is the space that we trust for taking rests and bringing peace back from
complexity of life. The key of happiness depends on how well we can transfer ourselves to adapt
rapidly between the first and the second places. To move on effectively, we need the right
charger to reach the successful life which is right at our finger tips.

Work cited

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"China Microbloggers Highest in World Despite of Facebook, Twitter Ban." Flare, (2012): .
"Cyberbullying and Bullying Statistics 2014, Finally!" NoBullying Bullying CyberBullying
Resources. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
Fitzmon, Tim. "Why 4.4 Billion People Still Don't Have Internet Access." Npr. 2 Oct. 2014.
Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
G.E. Miller. "Can You Shop at Costco without a Membership? Yes! Here Are 5 Ways." Shop at
Costco without a Membership? Yes! Here Are 5 Ways. 28 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
Kwan, GCE, and MM Skoric. "Facebook Bullying: An Extension of Battles in
School." Computers in Human Behavior, 29.1 (2013): 16-25.
Oldenburg, Ray. The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty
Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You through the Day. New
York: Paragon House, 1989. Print.
Schiffman, Lizzie. "Chicago Bartender's Racist Facebook Rant Gets Her Fired From Proof."
The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Apr. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.