Massives As Your Third Home

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:11AM from the maybe-two-and-a-half dept.

sleepwellmyfriend writes "What is a third place? The first place is your home, the second place is work. Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks introduced third places as somewhere besides home or work where people can socialize and feel comfortable. Think Cheers. Massive multiplayer online games are third places as defined by their characteristics: neutral ground, leveler (no not that kind), conversation, accessibility, regulars, low profile, playful mood, and "home away from home". Online games also contain social capital, which like financial capital, can be acquired and spent, but for social gains instead of financial gains. In a social relationship sense, bridging provides breadth (diverse information and resources) while bonding provides depth (comfort and advice). In online games, players come from a diverse background so they are usually bridging social capital but bonding can occur for long time players."

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Re:True for Me by crazyjeremy · 2006-09-20 01:17 · Score: 3, Funny

and had a large house near Coronet that many people visited frequently to buy stuff from me
Drug dealer?

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Math by Rob+T+Firefly · 2006-09-20 01:19 · Score: 4, Funny

So if Second Life is your Third Home, does that work out to 2/3s of a homelife?

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Re:My Bicycle and Kayak by kin_korn_karn · 2006-09-20 01:41 · Score: 5, Funny

How do you fit your pretentiousness in the kayak?
Home Depot by dpbrown · 2006-09-20 02:42 · Score: 5, Funny

My third place is Home Depot because my first place needs work and my second place doesn't pay me enough to convince someone else to make my first place their second place.