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Thread: chew on this, about us

  1. #1
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    chew on this, about us

    The social scientist Ray Oldenburg talks about how humans need a third place, besides work and home, to meet with friends, have a beer, discuss the events of the day, and enjoy some human interaction. Coffee shops, bars, hair salons, beer gardens, pool halls, clubs, and other hangouts are as vital as factories, schools and apartments "The Great Good Place", 1989. But capitalist society has been eroding those third places, and society is left impoverished. Over the last 25 years, Americans "belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often.
    *
    So it's no surprise that so many people, desperate for a little human contact, flock to online communities. In creating community software, we are, to some extent, trying to create a third place. And like any other architecture project, the design decisions we make are crucial. Make a bar too loud, and people won't be able to have conversations. That makes for a very different kind of place than a coffee shop. Make a coffee shop without very many chairs, as Starbucks does, and people will carry their coffee back to their lonely rooms, instead of staying around and socializing like they do in the fantasy TV coffeehouse of "Friends," a program we watch because an ersatz third place is less painful than none at all.
    *
    Creating a community is a noble goal, because it's sorely missing for so many of us. Let's keep plugging away at it.

    Thanks to Owens for making, keeping, and upgrading this place for us; and thanks to everyone who contributes, especially the folks who have been around forever.
    Last edited by Platinum Pete; 09-23-2004 at 12:25 AM.
    another Handsome Boy graduate

  2. #2
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  3. #3
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    I was going to wait for this to slide down a bit before bumping but, what the hell, a bump's a bump and this is worthy.

    Nice words, nice thoughts, nice truths.

    d.

  4. #4
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    Well, this is more like place version 3.1

    Pmag was 3.0



    Sometimes you just gotta upgrade.
    "Have fun, get a flyrod, and give the worm dunkers the finger when you start double hauling." ~Lumpy

  5. #5
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    Jul 2004
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    I just returned from two weeks in Italy and France. I miss the cafes, where people gather and just sit, for as long as they feel like it. And while I'm sure they exist somewhere, I didn't see coffee to go. When you order coffee, you sit and enjoy it, and then you go.

    Add in skiing and it is the perfect life.
    I ski because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.

    "This deep snow makes my skis stupid!"

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ole2planker
    When you order coffee, you sit and enjoy it, and then you go.

    I usually enjoy it, then sit, then I go. But that's just me.

  7. #7
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    I really miss hanging out in the hair salon

  8. #8
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    Interesting read. With the advancement of technology, society will naturally change with it. Of course I know that is a statement of the obvious, but it is very simple. With the invention of the car, cities have drastically changed. What once was vibrant city center with various aspects of human interaction has changed to sprawling suburbs with broken down cities. Being in architecture and having studied urban planning I am looking at this read from this aspect. People are becoming more isolated in their suburban homes. By designing together business, retail, housing, and recreation into a pedestrian friendly environment, I believe this will spawn more interation between human beings.

    This conversation goes way beyond what I can write in this short paragraph. Just something to spark the brain.
    "Can't vouch for him, though he seems normal via email."

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Below Zero
    By designing together business, retail, housing, and recreation into a pedestrian friendly environment, I believe this will spawn more interation between human beings.
    kind of like those archology things in SimCity??? That would be pretty cool

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Below Zero
    Interesting read. With the advancement of technology, society will naturally change with it. Of course I know that is a statement of the obvious, but it is very simple. With the invention of the car, cities have drastically changed. What once was vibrant city center with various aspects of human interaction has changed to sprawling suburbs with broken down cities. Being in architecture and having studied urban planning I am looking at this read from this aspect. People are becoming more isolated in their suburban homes. By designing together business, retail, housing, and recreation into a pedestrian friendly environment, I believe this will spawn more interation between human beings.

    This conversation goes way beyond what I can write in this short paragraph. Just something to spark the brain.
    Totally agree. That's part of the reason why the few walking cities left: Boston, New York, San Francisco are so prized.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aldo
    I usually enjoy it, then sit, then I go. But that's just me.
    You got that right. Coffee is like exlax to me...
    "Have fun, get a flyrod, and give the worm dunkers the finger when you start double hauling." ~Lumpy

  12. #12
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    May 2002
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    Man, the Starbuck's people must have read that......

    In their Starbucks Academy, they tell managers and employees that they want Starbucks to be the third place in everyone's life.

    Me, I'm just strung out on Chai tea.

  13. #13
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    "The Online/Offline Dichotomy: Debunking Some Myths about AOL Users and the Effects o

    Many have written of the growth of online communities in recent years but little research has been done on the effects of spending much of one's free leisure time online upon offline friendships, social networks, and community. These are important topics of inquiry and deserve at least as much attention, if not more, from social scientists as do 'emoticons' and 'flaming'. As of this writing, no social scientist has examined empirically the possibility of a causality between offline social isolation and online community membership, although many have stated that they personally believe there to be such a causality. Media critics have also been quick to label computer network users as social outcasts, at least here in Britain. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the users of AOL, a popular online service, are not socially isolated 'outcasts' and that their time online does not adversely affect their offline friendships, social networks, and community. Rather than joining AOL and going online in search of new friendships with distant people, the vast majority of AOL users have obtained their user account to do research or to communicate with people they already know from their pre-existing offline communities. Communities, whether they are offline or online, share most aspects, according to my examination of key social science texts. 'Community' is defined in this paper as a group of people, who share social interaction, have some common ties between themselves and other members of the group, and who share an area at least some of the time. Online communities share all of these aspects of offline community, although the shared area is cyberspace. Social isolation and loneliness are other key concepts in this study since it is often said that people who fail in offline communities, that is those who are socially isolated and lonely offline, seek community online instead. If this is true, and large numbers of people choose to become members of online communities rather than working at building offline communities, the affect upon society as a whole could be detrimental. Using social scientific research methods, including online questionnaires, online interviews, and extensive participant observation, this paper is a step in the direction of debunking the myth that users are socially isolated and that they seek replacements for offline community by joining communities online. In fact, the research presented here shows something entirely different. Members of AOL who I have spoken with in the course of this research are not socially isolated and joining online communities is not one of their main motivations for joining AOL in the first place. Instead, they are well connected, social people who use their AOL access to do research and to communicate, usually via email, with people whom they already have social contact with offline. Locally based offline communities are finding their way onto AOL. Community based networks are based upon the principle that computer mediated communication between members of pre-existing offline communities can be beneficial for dealing with local problems and building cohesion within the community as a whole.

    cybersoc.com

  14. #14
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    Does this mean I can no longer send my 'social double' out to ski and attend various maggot functions?

  15. #15
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    Oct 2003
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    I can definitely attest to that. In Fort Collins, there is a coffee shop called the Alley Cat that I essentially live at. It's open 24 hours, and all the regulars know each other and everyone who works there. It's really like a family. It's my favorite place to go and sober up after the bars close, and my favorite place to go between classes or after ultimate practice in the evenings. If I go in and it's super busy, I'll help out with the dishes, then make myself a sandwich. It's really nice to have a place to go that's not work and not home, where everyone just hangs out and socializes all the time. And I've even met a few skiers there. This place is for sure like that... only different. Here, I'm still sitting at home by myself. But at least you all are skiers.
    Not on here much anymore. Drop me an email if you want to contact me. Have a wonderful winter!

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