Open Thread: Where is Your Third Place?
July 26th, 2007 (10:51am) Mike Gunderloy 21 Comments
Well-known .NET developer Scott Hanselman is gearing up to leave the corporate office and work out of a home office, and as part of his preparation he’s asking readers a question that should resonate with many web workers: where is your current third place? The “third place,” of course, is the spot where we go that isn’t home or work when we want to hang out and feel connected with other people. For some of us this is a shifty concept, of course: if you do web work at home, and socialize exclusively on Twitter and IRC, do you have three places or just one?
Still, most of us can draw lines to divide our lives into compartments, even if those compartments aren’t watertight. As web workers, we tend to have less opportunity to socialize with others at work, so you’d think we would put more energy into finding vibrant and engaging third places to fill that side of our lives. Is there anything to that thought? Do you have some real-life third place where you hang out, whether a neighborhood bar or a church? Or is your third place online? What fills that niche in your own web working life?
21 Comments Post your own comment
rick gregory says: July 26th, 2007 11:22am
This was an amusing item to see considering where I’m sitting at the moment…
http://thirdplacebooks.com/
It’s a combination of bookstore, food court and coffee shop. free wifi, decent power outlets and *spacious* so that I’m not jammed in next to folks. I’m sitting at one end of a 15×5 table and the tables are of all different sizes and spacings. The variety here is what I like - there are solo tables, large group tables, etc. There are even a couple of meeting rooms if I want to meet with someone and not sit in the open or if I need a whiteboard…
Robotchampion says: July 26th, 2007 11:44am
I am struggling with this as well. Right now my best place third place is the dog park or a coffee shop.
I wonder if the coffee shop counts though, because I end up going to there to get internet access and be outside, but I rarely talk to people (unless I bring a friend).
Justin Davey says: July 26th, 2007 11:46am
Being a hearty Canadian I would say good ol’ Tim Horton’s. I like Starbuck’s atmosphere, but I can’t afford cup after delicious cup of $4 coffee. Maybe one day, I’m still young!
Andy Beal says: July 26th, 2007 12:52pm
Wait, there’s life outside of the office? ;-) I’d have to say that online is my 3rd place.
Laura Athavale Fitton says: July 26th, 2007 1:26pm
My third place for getting work done is a “portable feast” of coffeeshops, the local wharf, and other public wi-fi spaces. But as a web worker and mom to 2 very young children, my biggest social 3rd place is Twitter, by far. That’s my water cooler. And surprisingly, it is fast becoming my best professional network also. The energy, kindness, ideas and humor that are shared are off the charts some days.
Susanna says: July 26th, 2007 1:30pm
Heh. I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I type this.
My third place is probably a friend’s house where everyone gathers at least once a week. Or at least, it was before I moved to a new town. Today I’m back in the old city, but I really need to find a 3rd place in the new locale.
C.C. Chapman says: July 26th, 2007 1:33pm
I’ve been looking for a third space for the past year and have yet to find one. I need to find one! That much I know for sure.
Dale Cruse says: July 26th, 2007 1:40pm
I would say that when I’m not at home or at the office, I gravitate toward wine shops for tastings!
John Ramsey says: July 26th, 2007 1:56pm
The larger fitness clubs (including the YMCA in my town) are great places to hang out(If your favorite friends don’t show up you just get a little better work-out than usual).
For people who have made the transition to an online life and work, it makes total sense for their Third Place to be an online location as well, although not as healthy maybe…
Michael says: July 26th, 2007 4:57pm
My third place right now is either my church that I go to every Sunday or my girlfriends house. I hang out with a lot of my friends at my girlfriends house.
I do need to spend a lot more time socializing then I do right now. It would be healthy for me to.
Jillian says: July 26th, 2007 5:32pm
Third place? I don’t even have a second one. Some days I go outside to hang out the laundry, would that count?
Matt Platte says: July 26th, 2007 6:16pm
After a long day’s work and family activity, I’ve had far more than my recommended daily allowance of socializing, so I head for my 77-square-foot fortress o’Solitude. Sometimes I make comments on other people’s weblogs.
john says: July 26th, 2007 7:25pm
Lately my third place has been XBOX Live…..
Grant Griffiths says: July 26th, 2007 8:14pm
I practice out of my home office and it works great. However, there are times I need to go to my third place. And that place is my favorite coffee shop. Good wifi and great people.
Kyle Ingrelli says: July 27th, 2007 3:22am
I’ve always been a huge fan of Coffee Shops as a 3rd place. Especially if they have free WIFI. I’ll use any place with power outlets and internet access. Bucketworks is a great place to use as a 3rd place if you live in the Milwaukee, WI area.
Rodrigo says: July 27th, 2007 6:04am
Today my third place is called Warrock where I spend hours sniping newbies online.
Joe Flood says: July 27th, 2007 11:26am
I have two Caribou coffee places within walking distance. They’re excellent “third places” because they’re filled with busy, industrious people typing away on laptops. I find I get more work done there - it feels like a study hall. But there’s enough human interaction as well, with the occasional bit of small talk with strangers, watching customers come in and out, seeing what books people are reading (lots of Harry Potter this week), overhearing conversations about jobs and condos, etc… There’s a busy hum to the place, with the pleasant background noise of people, that helps me get stuff done.
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Andy Ko says: August 11th, 2007 4:02am
Great board, I just like it… sorry for offtop, but how do you connect to Internet ?
Through Internet provider’s gate, which is closely monitored by almost anyone from technical personel to third party hackers, packets sniffers, cache servers, and so on - you wouldn’t feel secure commiting your business in the center of the stadium, wouldn’t you ?
That’s exactly how you should feel using insecure connections from public Internet Service providers. But you can fix it with VPN encryption ! Since your connection is encrypted nobody (none!) can actually de-cipher your traffic and whatever passes through your internet connection stays completely hidden.
Did you hear about Patriot act? Since then - nothing is private anymore in States and major part of Europe. Most free private proxy servers and gateway can only pass your data with out encryption, hence make it visible for almost whole world - the trick called “packet sniffing” when the traffic captured analysed and extracted. But when your data is encrypted - it’s impossible to decipher what is going in and out your computer, sensitive data, password and other impostant information.
I found this service, and feels better now.. http://www.step-host.com when I send my messages and letters, surely none will know.
btw, they even have a week test drive!
Scotch College says: October 31st, 2007 7:44pm
Can the “third place” be a state of mind? We think so…