“Third place” on the web: what should social network provide

Reading notes from Our Vanishing “Third Places”.

Third place is social gathering places people used to have in the community but no longer exist in nowadays society. Social network is kind of making amend for the lack of third place in the physical world.

1. Third places help unify neighborhoods: community blog/forum; college Canvas; WeChat neighbor groups
2. Third places also serve as “ports of entry” for visitors and newcomers to the neighborhood where directions and other information can easily be obtained: community forum; web index page; Google…? Yelp; Dazhongdianping
3. Third places are “sorting” areas: social media tags; Facebook interest groups; QQ group; Pinterest boards; Podcast
4. Third places can bring youth and adults into association with one another: WeChat family group…kind of? Quora; Zhihu:
5. Third places help care for the neighborhood: Amber alert; Forum administrator; Public social media such as Twitter
6. Third places foster political debate: Twitter; Reddit; Facebook; candidate campaign website;
7. Third places help reduce the cost of living: Craglist; Uber…? Groupon; Dealmoon; Social Media
8. Third places are entertaining: Social Media; Video live stream (Youtube, Bilibili etc);
9. Third places give the gift of friendship: social media group message; Group video chat;
10. Third places are important for retired people: can’t really think of anything famous, might be possible design area?