The Virtual Third Place
What is a virtual third place?
Well the term “third place” comes from the book The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg.
http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/roldenburg
Oldenburg identifies third places, or “great good places,” as the public places on neutral ground where people can gather and interact. In contrast to first places (home) and second places (work), third places allow people to put aside their concerns and simply enjoy the company and conversation around them. Third places host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work. Oldenburg suggests that beer gardens, main streets, pubs, cafés, coffeehouses, post offices, and other third places are the heart of a community’s social vitality and the foundation of a functioning democracy. They promote social equality by leveling the status of guests, provide a setting for grassroots politics, create habits of public association, and offer psychological support to individuals and communities.
So, in the world of suburbia where these “third places” seem to be disappearing, what is there to replace them?
While it is definitely not for everybody, I believe that virtual worlds, whether it be games designed to be social places like There or Second Life or MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft and City of Heroes, have a good shot at fulfilling that role.
The “Metaverse” is on its way to becoming real, and offers a social environment where people cut off from one another geographically can meet and socialize with all the benefits of real “third places”.
