Sadly, my car.

The coversation is a little one-sided, but rank and status matter not.

 Interesting question.  I bet for a lot of people, the answer is the internet.

 oh, interesting, I hadn't thought of either of those two places.

 What about those who don't have to work? Do we have to come up with two places, instead of one? That doesn't seem fair.

MOST people have 3 places... not all. For the most part of the last 3 years, I was a stay-at-home-mom, so I understand this. But which of your places (outside of home & any work), fit the criteria above??

The Internet is it for me, FreeCog.

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There's a medical term "third spacing" that comes to mind.  It's not a good place...I've seen it.

Inside my own head ignoring the world for a while..................or reading :-) 

 Okay then, if I have to come up with 2 places, it would have to be the Rio Bravo CC golf course and the Red Pepper restaurant. Both can be very spiritual, in good and bad ways.

witters~ that is my answer,my own head...and the internet. 

Great minds Sage  :-) 

Great topic, I'm going to get a copy of "The Good Place" (books.google.com/books)

I'm taking online classes, and when I am inside those virtual classrooms, I experience all of the characteristics mentioned above.  So that is the one I will write about.

The virtual classes are safe; you must be registered in the course to gain access.

The (CMA) both colleges I attend, use is called Moodle which is not just about text, images and links. There is a Moodle philosophy that presumes that that learning is particularly effective when constructing something for others to experience. Moodle was born with collaboration in mind. So instructord often use both 'real-time' conversation in chat rooms, and asynchronous communication, with blogs and wikis, and the adventures are fun, and often very inspiring.

Teachers often encourage the students to experience Moodle together, not as a book that has been posted to the Web, but rather as members of an ongoing, active learning community.

As I create my own Moodle virtual learning center, I'm leaning more towards chat rooms for the students to collaborate, and group wiki for constructing documents together, for others in the class to experience.

I would encourage anyone whose interested in continuing their education to get involved in an online class, in a subject they find interesting.

 Oddly enough, Starbucks has based their whole business model on the 3rd place. Many claim this has shot them into sucess.

Am I the only one that finds it frightening that for so many people the internet has become their third place? In some ways, I think that the internet is amazing & the perfect way to connect & be community in such an innovative & unique way. In other ways, I think how scary is this that this is taking primary in our friendships & community & limits so much face-to-face interaction... something I think people need.

Thoughts?

Your surprised? You describe "Third places" as being noted for being neutral ground & even as a Christian, you eliminated the home and work place, church is not something I discuss in this community, so leaving those aside, you asked about a 'place' where we might interact, conversation is a main activity, people participate in core groups, easy to access and accommodating, enviroment is playful, and feel like homes away from home

You pose your question in an online, chat room, and are surprised that the majority of the members cite the internet.

I'm surprised you don't get it.

 No, I get it. I am not surprised. In a lot of ways it makes sense to me, but I just WISH that people had a face-to-face community where they feel comfortable & can interact & share. I guess that having the internet as your third place doesn't mean that people don't have that community, just that it's that more important for the values said above. I just think that it says a lot about our culture. Do you think so?

 I agree it does indeed, social network such as facebook, myspace,  are a great example.  I like to drop in here after work, and unwind,  I'm free to do other things, and rejoin the conversation as I please.  Most of the time I have the Newshour and MSNBC in the background.

So, I find it healty, enjoyable and often the conversation is stimulating.

But, alas it is bedtime for the little ones, and I've got a story to read.

Good night.

 We meet at a place we call the wall.  Every morning, usually 5 to 8 mostly guys.  On weekends there may be dozen or so.  We are all there for the same reasons friendship, laughter [ like a non stop stand up routine] and a common love of the ocean.  Kind of like being 8 years old again.

I talked about this with Nancy last night, but I think we should do an unofficial "Blogger's Brunch" at Dagny's on Saturday at 12 or so.  I also told her I'd post something today, but life got in the way a bit.

Anyone up for it?

 Until recently I worked 8-10 hours a day and commuted 30 minutes each way.  I worked with clients all day and visited with co workers.  By the time I got home, the internet was a perfect place for me to use as a "3rd" place.  I could visit, laugh, discuss, share, argue, and even rant without having to worry about having to continue all night.  When I got tired of talking I just turned the computer off.  (Try doing that with a crowd at Starbucks.)  There were times, in the middle of the night, when I couldn't sleep so I would poke my head in here to see if anyone was around.  There were times when a person who had vastly different political views from mine would be here and we would talk about life.  Events.  Families.  It was a quiet time and we kept each other company.

The internet serves a purpose.  It has become a "3rd place."  for a lot of us.  The danger is when people use it for their only contact with others.  For me, it's a tool and is only a part, not the whole, of my life.