Recently, I have become a little obsessed with Third Places.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a “Third Place” is a term coined by Sociologist Ray Oldenburg, describing a location outside of your home and work where people are able to come together and socialize. Third places are often local, and allow you to meet people in your area while spending little or no money to be there. Examples include libraries, cafes, community centers, and parks.

The Loss of Third Places

But due to the effects of the pandemic, rising prices, and many locations such as malls closing down, third places are becoming harder and harder to find— especially for young people that do not have access to a car or the money required to use the few we have left. During the Covid-19 lock-down, the absence of third places was more apparent than ever, and it was likely these events that accelerated a new phenomenon: the rise of Digital Third Places.

Discovering a Digital Community

Social media has a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to connecting with people over long distances, but I didn’t truly appreciate this capability until I found myself trapped in my own home for a few months amid a global pandemic. It was during this time that I first discovered the joy of third places on social media. Of course, at the time I didn’t know what a third place was, I just knew that I found a community on a Discord server where I was able to engage with other people via a virtual “city.” This Discord server was designed around the game Dungeons & Dragons and used different server channels to create a digital city where people could role-play as their characters and interact with others as if they were in a physical place.

And I wasn’t the only one who discovered a community like this during the lock-down. From talking to my friends, I discovered that many of them had become engaged in online communities through platforms such as Reddit or Facebook. We, like thousands of other people around the globe, had just discovered digital third places.

In the time since then, I have really gravitated towards Reddit, because I find the way that the platform is structured provides a great opportunity to find niche communities. I am part of a subreddit where people discuss Victorian Era history, one for new YouTubers where we help each other in growing our channels, and a virtual running group where I received tips from others as I started jogging for the first time.

Will it be enough?

But as amazing as these online spaces are, they are still not a substitute for face-to-face human connection. Something always feels… missing.

While  you can still interact with people online, it feels less mentally satisfying. That is because digital communication doesn’t include certain factors that the brain picks up on, such as nonverbal cues, body language, or inflection and tone. But regardless, third places in social media are here to stay. And they just might help us to feel a little less lonely.

Have you found a sense of community through social media? Do you prefer physical or digital third places? Maybe a combination of both?

I’d love to hear about any and all experiences you’ve had with third places in an online setting.

Twitter post

Feeling lonely? Your life might be missing a #ThirdPlace. Learn more about third places and how you can find your community online here: http://tinyurl.com/dk5hh2x9

Facebook Post

Have you felt more lonely after the pandemic? 🙁 Your life might be missing something known as a “third place.” Check out my blog post to learn more about third places and how you can find one in your neighborhood or online! #thirdplace #lockdown #loneliness

Lean more here: http://tinyurl.com/dk5hh2x9