Social Media The New Third Place?

Ten years ago Richard Putnam's book Bowling Alone came on the scene. Most of you who are old like me are probably familiar with the main idea of the book, if not, it was that Americans were increasingly disconnected from any social connections (friends, family, neighborhoods, etc...). They were, as the title observed doing things alone.

The idea of "third place" began to gain in popularity thanks to Ray Oldenburg's The Great Good Place. This book came out ten years prior to Putnam's. Third place refers to that place or places we regularly socialize in addition to home and work. These places tend to be bars, clubs, churches, coffee shops, etc.... It became a promotional strategy for companies like Starbucks. (Although, as a former employee of said company I'm not so sure they really meant it. Hard wooden chairs don't say "sit for awhile," to me.)

I wonder if recent statistics show people are reconnecting. Facebook, Smaller Indiana, Twitter, and many other social media tools (list is ever growing and ever changing) have certainly provided an opportunity to connect with a lot of people, quickly and conveniently. The quality of these connections can be debated (let's talk about virtual community and gnosticism another time) but they are happening.

Is social media the new third place? Can it be? Should it be?

I'm just asking questions.