Running Head: ANALYZING AND DISCUSSING THE USE DIGITAL SPACES AS A 1

MODERN DAY THIRD PLACE

Analyzing and Discussing the Use of Digital Spaces as a Modern Day Third Place

Mart Joshua Lopez

University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Whether it be an Internet-breaking celebrity or the average blue-collar worker, a person’s

life is best defined by Ray Oldenburg’s three spheres of life: work, home, and a wild card “third

place.” This place is best defined by relaxed social interaction and communication; popular third

places in America being bars, coffee shops, or parks. There is no pressure to be present in third

places, and unlike work or home, people are able freely enter and exit without major consequences.

However, with the rise of technology and its presence in society, a digital third place has

emerged as a main way of communication and socialization. Although the digital third place is

advantageous in the neutralizing, homely and playful attributes of a third place, it lacks in its ability

lessen the social hierarchy and creates a tunnel vision of a user’s core ideologies. Though it is

becoming a main social place in society, especially in the younger generations, the digital third

place does not threaten the existence of third places in reality and in some cases may encourage

the use of tangible third places.

Understanding Ray Oldenburg’s theory of the third place is essential to a thorough analysis

the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of digital and real third places. In his book The

Great Good Place: Cafés, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores,

Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day, Ray Oldenburg breaks down the social

third place into eight defining characteristics: neutral, status leveling, conversation-led,

approachable and accommodating, having a core participant group, low-key area, playful, and a

secondary home (Oldenburg, 1989). The neutralizing, status-leveling, playful, and secondary

home aspects are most essential to understand the differences between digital and traditional third

places.

As stated before, third places are neutral areas where there is no consequence for

participation and absence, unlike work or home spaces. This does not make the third place
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expendable in one’s life but rather making it flexible to busy or sedentary lifestyles. Oldenburg

also defines third places as status-leveling, meaning that there is no social hierarchy or major

authoritarian figures. Newcomers to a social space may initially feel isolated, but Oldenburg argues

that constant participation and “flavor of one’s personality, irrespective of his or her station in life,

is what counts” (Oldenburg, 1989, p. 24). Third, the playful aspect of Oldenburg’s third place is

its focus around laughter and cheery ambience. Third places are filled with light-hearted

conversation and little solemness, making it an attractive and special place in one’s life. Finally,

Oldenburg states that third places are homes away from home where one feels included and re-

energized. This feeling often makes third places a threat towards one’s home and familial place.

Now with a strong foundation of key aspects of Oldenburg’s third place, the major

advantages of a digital third place can be discussed. Firstly, the digital third place excels in its

ability to neutralize participation and accommodate demanding home or work places. The

penetration of smartphone users also led to an increase in social media users. From 2011-2018, the

percentage of adults using a smartphone has increased from 35% to 77%, a 42% increase in the

past seven years. The increase in smartphone users stems from smartphones becoming more

financially attainable and a wider variety of smartphones being offered over time, as well as society

becoming more reliant on mobile devices and less dependent on landline or broadband services at

home (Pew Research, 2018). Following this trend, the amount of social media users has increased

from 1.22 billion in 2011 to 2.62 billion in 2018 (Statista, 2018). The increase of smartphone users

made participating in social media and the digital third place extremely easy. Instead of having to

catch a bus or train to one’s favorite park, people simply unlock their phone and open up Instagram,

Snapchat or Facebook to see what others are up to. Those with demanding work or home places

are now able to log on and participate in the third place on their own schedule. The accessibility
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of the digital third place makes participation easy and with little consequences, making it an

attractive way to socialize and communicate in an increasingly digital world.

Secondly, the digital third place encourages a playful atmosphere where sharing one’s life

and their interests is encouraged and extremely easy to do so. The best example of this playful and

lighthearted atmosphere in the digital place is seen on Instagram, an popular social media platform

centralized around posting and sharing photos. The app began as a platform for friends to post

photos about everyday life, but it now extends beyond as a platform for communities of similar

interests to share and connect. According to Tom Jenkins from CNN, fashion, art, travel, and food

are some of many communities flourishing through Instagram. Lesser-known artists are able to

share their artwork and it is appreciated by the masses. Getting outside and traveling to new places

is inspired by breathtaking photos seen online. Foods from various cultures and places are

appreciated by those oceans away. The ability to see and share the best things in one’s life is made

easy through Instagram. Social media encourages people to seek out exciting things to experience

and appreciate, creating a high-spirited third place that counters the stresses of work or home

environments.

Thirdly, there is a strong feeling of home in the digital third place. Jerod Foster from Texas

Tech University analyzes the digital third place’s ability to function as a secondary home, using

Facebook as his research platform. Foster compares the feeling of home by one’s ability to feel a

sense of ownership community in the third place. In a real third place such as a coffee shop, one

may experience ownership after many visits to the shop and sitting in the same comfortable corner

of the shop, claiming that area as “his/hers.” However, people immediately gain ownership online,

claiming to have his/her Facebook page as soon as an account is made. This sense of personal
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space strikes a feeling of a home-away-from-home with the creation of one’s Internet profile,

hence the name “home page.”

Furthermore, the feeling of having attention and knowing familiar faces creates the homely

feeling in third places. McArthur’s (2008) work outlines that members of these communities are

able to meet online, “creating a gathering point and common ground,” that otherwise would not

have been possible due to the geographical locations of users.

The digital third place uniquely allows users to connect with familiar faces and meet new

ones from locations all around the world regardless of the place and time between them. Instead

of attaching onto single location, users in the digital third place latch onto the familiar faces who

could be minutes, miles, or oceans away. Regardless of location, the digital third place is a platform

where users can connect to more geographically extensive range of people than real third places.

There is no tangible location for the user to attach onto, but the familiar faces online and a home

page filled with one’s posts, conversations, and past memories create a sense of familiarity and

homeliness in the digital third place.

While the digital third place has made it easy to share and find similar communities,

cyberbullying of specific individuals or communities has become extremely common.

Cyberbullying makes Oldenburg’s status-leveling characteristic of third places practically

nonexistent, a major disadvantage in the digital third place. Just like face-to-face bullying,

cyberbullying creates a situation where the aggressor unfairly asserts dominance over his/her

victim, giving the attacker a sense of power and the victim feeling lesser. According to Dr. Joe

Magliano (2017), cyberbullies often bully in face-to-face situations. Toxic bully-victim

relationships in school or work situations can easily translate into the digital third place, blurring

the lines between work and third places. Aggressive posts are open to a wider audience and are
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permanent online, making cyberbullying more traumatizing to the victim than face-to-face

bullying (Magliano, 2017). Cyberbullying culture is common in the digital third place; as much as

50% of school-aged children are victims of cyberbullying (Mishna, Cook, Gadall, Daciuk, &

Solomon, 2010). The prominence of cyberbullies online makes participating in the digital third

place daunting and unattractive.

Instead of a welcoming area where all participants are equal, a semblance of social

hierarchy exists and has led to an epidemic of depression in teens, the biggest participants in the

digital third place. Per a 2010 study from the National Institutes of Health of the US Department

of Health & Human Services, “frequent [cyberbullying] victims reported significantly higher

levels of depression than frequent [face-to-face] bullies and marginally higher depression than

frequent [face-to-face] bully-victims.” In recent years, the toxic effects of cyberbullying in the

digital third place has been brought to the public’s attention, and many schools are teaching

students proper conflict resolution procedures and parents are being educated on how to recognize

depression in their child’s life. Cyberbullying is a major disadvantage in the digital third place,

and it has made the third place a weapon to hurt others instead of bringing communities together.

Many online communities and platforms allow for anonymity to be a key feature. With the lack of

face-to-face interaction, cyberbullying without consequences can occur.

Another major drawback not specifically categorized under Oldenburg’s 8 attributes of a

third place is the ideas and viewpoints of major beliefs such as religions. Admittedly, it is true that

people of various cultures, geographic regions, and demographics are able to connect online.

However, a tunnel vision is created where bubbles are formed within similar cultural, political,

and social ideologies, creating distinct social rifts, both online and in reality. When users are

participating in the online community, often time these communities affirm the collective identities
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created of the participating groups (Rheingold, 2000). McArthur (2008) builds on Rheingold’s

work, stating, “identities are shaped by the values and beliefs espoused and supported by the

members of these groups.” Greg Ring (2018), a contributor to the Handelsblatt Research Institute,

describes this problem as a “digital echo chamber”: if users shared their political views online,

they would be fed articles and news with the same bias, as well as communicate with those of

similar worldviews. This “digital shouting match” led to users being fed political fluff of their

beliefs, filtering out viewpoints supported by facts and research. A specific example of this would

the 2016 Presidential Election of Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton. Over the span of the two

presidential debates, 33% of pro-Trump and 20% of pro-Clinton tweets derived from fake accounts

run by automated computers (Sanders 2016). These tweets became a source of propaganda for

Trump, making Twitter users believe there were many more people voting for Trump than than

realistically. For users easily swayed in political beliefs, joining the crowds and voting for the

perceived “better” candidate can have a dangerous impact on the election results. The

psychological habit for humans to only see and believe what confirms their presuppositions is

basic knowledge, but when taken to the extremes it creates an election environment where political

leaders are chosen using biased information or propaganda instead of factually correct info.

Although the digital third place is a growing presence in society, it does not directly

threaten the existence of third places in reality, and connections over digital third places often leads

to time in real third places to deepen connections made online. The best example of this would be

online dating platforms such as Bumble and Tinder. The premise of both platforms is the

randomization of people that are within your determined range of distance. A person is able to

connect, interact, and even propose to meet in person. This can be seen as the convergence of both

virtual and real worlds in the third place. In comparison to meeting new people in a traditional
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third place, the person is provided a higher level of control in their social activity. A user can

decide when to contact and approach a person and they have no time limit with how quickly or

slowly they want to respond to the other party. Dating applications as digital third places provide

a low risk environment for individuals to find romantic relationships with low pressure for real

time engagement and interaction. These digital platforms can help deepen already established

knowledge of social cues and beyond.

After reviewing the relevant and appropriate literature, I have come to believe that there is

still research to be done and discussion to be had. With my core understanding of digital third

places, I believe that it may not dutifully serve and replace all purposes of traditional third places.

Although not a feasible replacement, digital third places provide low risk environments for people

to engage with one another. Digital third places can not only help create new relationships, but

even sustain and build basic offline relationships. Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and

Scholarship discusses thoughts by Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) in that social networking

sites such as Facebook can help “maintain existing offline relationships or solidify offline

connections, as opposed to meeting new people.” I believe that physical and traditional third places

play a crucial in social development and although not a suitable replacement, digital third places

play a crucial role in supplemental development of relationships and complex social cues. Being

able to connect with other individuals from across the world in real time is a form of cultural

convergence that did not exist as easily before the Internet. The use of both third places can serve

to be the most helpful and effective form of Oldenburg’s concept on third places.
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