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HAMMERMAIN73 t1_je0pifp wrote

Love that you bring up the third place I'm going to explain for others as a way of also answering you.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg classified social spaces into an ordinal system. The First Place is the home, the Second is the workplace, the Third Place is a place of socializing and human connection. Rather than leave an exhaustive comment I'd recommend checking out the wikipedia page. Note the barriers to our generation in accessing a 3rd Place compared with age groups from other times. Capitalism in it's relentless drive to seek profit has commodified and in the process destroyed many Third Spaces of the past, the famous example being The Mall of the 90's (the same Mall which was already a commercial space). They have become too expensive or alienating in other ways. One particular strain comes from the culture and very person-hood of the young being split between reality (semi-ironically called 'meatspace') and cyberspaces like this. This space we share now is on the one hand more engaging and accessible then reality but is itself fraught with problems which often lead to shallow and/or dead end relationships or community which is insufficient compared to old models. The last 20 years have tested the corporate aspirations of Sony in its bid to claim cyberspace as the new Third Place and found it to be mostly a failure. Relationships sex and even friendships have continued to decline as depression has risen. In a context of mass alienation people like me have found meaning and community alongside others who understand these challenges by waging coordinated struggle against such forces. You may avoid such a confrontation but you will not avoid these barriers. The barriers I refer to are not impregnable, this is part of their design and function. Still, do not be shocked when you look at yourself in a few years and realize you are still outside.

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