Conceptualizing online environments as third places: an analysis on second life and facebook

Abstract

This thesis analyses the digital environments Facebook and Second Life. Based on a cyberethnography carried out for over a year that was supported by personal interviews, the qualities of communication and interaction on Facebook and Second Life and the dynamics of social relations that stem from these environments are discussed. While doing these, apart from analysing both Facebook and Second Life in their isolated contexts to be able to grasp their particularities, based on their common points inferences about digital environments in general are also made. The analytical framework wrapped around the possibilities of examining digital sites with the use of Ray Oldenburg’s conceptualization about “third spaces” forms the main problematic of this thesis. According to Oldenburg’s categorization, unlike home environments, named as “first places”, and the work environments, named as “second places; places such as cafes, coffeehouses, bars, libraries, open air public gathering places -i.e., “third places”- are locations where people are able to interact with others more freely, without the entangling of the roles that await them in other settings. Because of this, these places are environments which -at the individual level- provide people with relaxation, comfort, entertainment and exposure to new ideas, and which -at the societal level- strengthen bonds of solidarity that keep communities together and contribute to the development of a culture of democracy by promoting dialogues among participants. In this thesis, the eight properties that according to Oldenburg are common in third places are respectively elaborated, and a set of criteria is formed on the basis of which to judge whether an environments is a third place. In this context, metaphorizing the concept of “place” and utilizing Oldenburg’s eight criteria defining third places, it is argued -based on the communication and interaction within users from Turkey on Facebook and Second Life- that digital “places” can and should be conceptualized -with regards to their functions- as third places.