The Third Place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Third Place" is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. Ray Oldenburg wrote The Great, Good Place, perhaps the most influential work to date on why third places are important for civil society. Third places and public spaces are important features for democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place. Today Michael Krassa continues this work, looking at neighborhood design, social network formation, and civic involvement.
Contents |
[edit] Telecommuters
An increasing percentage of American workers now telecommute, not from home, but from a third place[1]. Workers cite isolation when telecommuting from home and find working in public spaces a happy medium between the home office and the corporate office. Availability of public wifi has been a major enabler of this trend, and an increasing number of retail chains are catering to it—Starbucks and Panera for example.
[edit] Use in advertising
[edit] Starbucks
Starbucks uses the term the third place in its marketing, as it wishes to see itself as the "extra place" people frequent after home and work. This idea came from a marketing concept by Howard Schultz. In an attempt to make Starbucks a viable "home away from home", the café section of the store is often outfitted with comfortable chairs, as well as the usual tables and hard-backed chairs found in cafés. Free electricity outlets are provided for patrons, and many branches also have wireless internet access, provided on a charge basis by T-Mobile. Many larger retail stores also host "mini-concerts" for local musicians.
[edit] PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2 also advertised itself as the third place. The exact meaning of this phrase in this context was left unstated, to add to the air of mystery surrounding the product launch, which was accompanied by surreal, dream-like game visuals. The purpose may have been to create the idea of Playstation 2 creating a virtual world unlike any real location[citation needed], though many people believe it to refer to the fact that the Playstation 2 was in fact the Third Playstation - after the original Playstation, and then the smaller PSOne.
[edit] Related terms
This term has inspired the similar term third screen, meaning the mobile phone screen especially in the marketing context of downloadable media or entertainment. The first and second "screens" are the television and computer monitor.
 |
This sociology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
