#third spaces

[irrepressible-domovoy]

I finally caught up to Midnight Burger and some of the comments on the episode are just...

"never expected to hear a philosophical commentary on the death of third spaces"

My dude. My fellow enjoyer of this podcast. That's what this entire series is about

[postcardsfromheapside]

I am old, and I am tired.

I just need to be so clear right now.

If y'all are using chatgpt to find information, you've already lost.

Also, I'm not sure what kind of connecting you're looking to do, but on a most basic level:

We used to have things called “third spaces,” which have effectively disappeared, where people (kids especially) could hang out - there are a couple books out about this whose exact names escape me at the moment but if you google “books” and “third spaces” you can find them.

But also, quite simply, you get invited to something with friends, then meet friends of friends, and talk to people. I met the person who has been sort of chatting at me that way - not through social media.

If you needed to find a specific person, for research, for information, whatever, you could ask Google, you could ask a librarian, you could start asking other adults until someone pointed you to who you needed to talk to, and gave you the contact info. It was work, and you actually had to communicate with other human beings, but it had a surprising success rate.

[walkingdetroit]

Happy Monday from Wayne State

[sheridan-le-fanu]

“Third spaces are important” is a true statement. “Capitalism killed third spaces” is only a partially true statement. I think Americans’ culture-wide antisocial behavior is not helping keep those third spaces alive.

Let me tell a little story:

When I was eight, I enjoyed the used book store my grandmother worked at, which had untranslated Japanese manga. Having the vague idea that the books I liked (Full Moon O Sagashite, Jesus I should not have been looking at that as an eight-year-old) were in another language, I joined a free local Japanese conversation class that met on Sunday nights at the local library.

The contingents of this class were:

1) “cringe” but generally respectful animanga-loving teens.

2) Japanese-American children a little younger than me who did not want to be learning another language (because they were six), and their understandably frustrated parents.

3) Older Japanese-American women more so looking for community and people to speak the language with than instructions on how to learn Japanese.

I did not really fall into any of these. Over the years, the members and instructors came and went, and I came and went and came again and became a cringe but hopefully respectful animanga teen. It was a comforting constant in my life growing up, and I’m grateful to have been part of this third space.

I still come when classes are offered. Less so because I want to learn Japanese (though I do), and more because I like being part of my local community.

So yeah. Those random flyers at your local library are calling, tumblrinas. Even if you could learn to crochet or scrapbook or learn Portuguese from the internet, it might be more fun to do it with a random group of older people, kids, and lonely teens.

Please. Third spaces need us to facilitate them.

[liminally-spaced]

[vampirepuppyboyfag]

third spaces and building community are so important

[env0writes]

Umber Embers Vol.3, 9.11.24 “The Third Door”

The great outdoors Were grand and glorious Blue and green And sights unseen Where out that door Before mankind’s first profit spark The threshold dear With fawn and deer Soon the parks all had gates Locked sundown With fines if you play If you visit or rest where you lay So maybe instead of outdoors where I go Venues sought without cost Where will we gather to speak When we’re weary from work all the week Cuff me and call for order Trees will speak Plants will breathe all the same Is this air not for free, but for blame? The great indoors Where the internet lay Filled with portals to connect A to B With pretty pictures and people to see Where in the door That windowed view To learn something new Meeting and greeting and yet still so few Soon all the forums are full Flocked with markets advertised So now all the shills from the playground Find their sights on the sites all around The greens and the blues mode set to dark Now the smoke outside subsides Yet the slate streets are growing And the slate pages showing So now I must seek another door Some place or portal to flee Away, away, away, away Far from this place The door is not in nor out Between I must find Where that third door must reside Eyes shut tight to find where it does hide

@env0writes C.Buck   Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0 Support Your Local Artists!

[marmaladeinlemonade]

The push towards overconsumption doesn't get more obvious than this.

genuinely a shocker that the art form that's supposed to be digested slowly and analyzed is getting an industrialized fast fashion version of itself.

Ik it doesn't seem like a big deal but renting books from a library has always been the default for me, it was like culture shock to find out people pay money to get books they are CONSIDERING reading. Why? Why not go to the library to find a book you might like and maybe interact with people for once? Third spaces are disappearing in the US and that may not always be in our control, but we have to try to preserve the ones that are still around by visiting them.

This doesn't count for anyone who doesn't have access to libraries or secondhand books btw. But please . Take the opportunity to find some new books irl you'll even get the #cottagecore aesthetic if the book is busted and used and you'll meet new people

[desultorydenouement]

one of the things that's most important in the discussion about bringing back third spaces is that i really think it's so so necessary for people to learn that strangers can be kind. everyday i think about that study they did that was like, the people who feel lonely aren't the ones who are most disliked but they are the ones who *feel* the most disliked. and with gen z we've thrown them into this internet cesspool where the worst of humanity is constantly being thrown in their faces, and their insecurities cemented at every turn, and so of course they're all bitter and polarized. they haven't learned about human decency yet. they walk around interacting with the furthermost corners of the world around them, all the time extrapolating from their online experiences to assume that everyone is as mean and judgmental as the people on tiktok or maybe the people in their high school and so on. but there's something so formative about entering a real third space, just a place where all kinds of different kinds of people can talk to each other and hang out, and learning that it's possible to enter a room of strangers and have them all be kind and leave the night with all of them friends. that's an experience that cements that you deserve to exist in the space you take up, and the world isn't broken into good and evil, and no matter how differently they see the world most people fundamentally are decent.

[houseofmcallister]

Libraries are crazy. Theres books in here. I can hang out in here for no money. Wild.

[meowyjean]

but in all seriousness, i loved this video essay

[rachel-sylvan-author]

Libraries are one of our last Third Spaces - protect them at all costs! Human community depends on it!

[digiblueslush]

Can they PLEASE make mocktail or something of the sort places a thing? Specifically for me cuz ok. I don't drink nor do I enjoy being around drunk people, I can't have caffeine, boba hurts my tummy and smoothies are just. Boring (plus they sometimes hurt my tummy, plus, I'm sorry 99% of people, I'm not huge on fruit I KNOW IM SORRY)

I need to have place to drink fun beverage with friend. Could be mocktails, phosphates, milkshakes, juices, and maybe even the specific nutrition supplement I have to drink (since it's specific for me) but put it in a nicer cup with a straw.

[shinisenko]

[captainpunchmerica]

I know we all spend a lot of time yelling about third spaces, so I just thought I'd shout out that at this moment, I am in a third space

my local indie bookstore has a big community area and food court where anyone can snag a table, and it's great. they have a stage for performances, author readings, etc, and a meeting room you can reserve, but mostly it's tables and a few food stalls

it's 11:30 on a Wednesday and right now the place is about a quarter full. there is a group of older women playing cards with terrifying intensity, some people having what looks like a business or committee meeting, people meeting friends for coffee, people with laptops, people eating lunch...earlier the place was half full of kids from a local day camp eating snacks and playing games.

it's just...this is the thing we're trying to build, right? it's really good. it's so good.

[archivlibrarianist]

As it should be. ❤️📖