Information about Third Place

"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. In his influential book The Great, Good Place, Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Oldenburg coins “first” place as our home and those we live with. Our second place is the workplace — where we may actually spend most of our time. Third places, then are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in our day is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to our current societal needs. Oldbenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true "third place": free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance);involve regulars - those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there. (58)

Michael Krassa argues along similar lines, looking at neighborhood design, social network formation, and civic involvement.

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.

Use in advertising

Starbucks

Starbucks uses the term the third place in its marketing because it vies to be 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 "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.

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, though some Wikipedia editors 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.