It is human nature to seek an outlet to end the day. For a cowboy in the Wild West, it's a campfire. For traditional American families, it's the dinner table. For me, it's the virtual world of the PlayStation.
Almost every night this semester, I fired up the console as soon as I got home from a long day of classes. I kick back and grab the controller and open her Discord on my phone. My friends are already there.
We choose a game from Fortnite, Rocket League, Minecraft, and sometimes Jackbox games and play and talk for an hour or two. You don't have to cut everything else out of your life, but talk about your day and what excites you while you detox from your daily routine.
I love it. Every day at a certain time, I'm already looking forward to what games we'll play and what stories we'll talk about.
I grew up in a traditional American household where we all ate together around the dinner table. There were nights when we didn't eat until 8pm because we all had after-school activities and jobs, but this time we tried to prioritize time to just be together and talk.
Not having this day-to-day experience when I entered college was a huge adjustment. I started with just a few friends I could share my days with. Now that we have them, we cherish the moments we get to spend together every night, even if that “third place” is virtual.
The concept of third place refers to the idea that people should have a separate space from their workplace or home. This term is defined in “The Good Place” by Ray Oldenburg.
The third location is usually a calmer area where conversation and regulars gather. Shared spaces in this category include coffee shops, bookstores, and community centers.
Oxford has some of these, but not enough. Sure, you can have coffee with friends in Cofenya or visit the Oxford Community Arts Center, but the town doesn't even have a bookstore.
Instead, Oxford focuses on its nightlife culture. If you go uptown most nights, you'll see people partying on Brick Street or Skippers. I had tried to fit into this culture before, but it just wasn't for me. I much prefer a quiet bar where I can have a conversation, but my friend and I searched all night and couldn't find one.
So I returned to my room and my PlayStation. There, you can escape into a virtual world where spaces exist that encourage conversations between friends.
We often choose video games that become repetitive after a while. It's not about the game itself, it's about our interactions.
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Virtual worlds have made it very easy to use third space. People around the world can connect regularly and have frequent conversations. It's also much more convenient to play video games every night than walk to a crowded coffee shop.
The main drawback is that virtual spaces are still limited by location. The whole point of Third Space is that it's independent from home, which is difficult on consoles. However, it doesn't really matter as long as you have a designated area for the game and feel enough movement.
Not everyone is interested in games. Not everyone is interested in experiencing uptown nightlife. The key is to find a setting that facilitates this regular communication and make it your third location.
Luke Macy is the digital editor at The Miami Student. He studied journalism, film studies, and American studies in Miami. His work has appeared in multiple Ohio publications and he has won various awards, including the Ohio Award for Best Investigative Reporting.
macylj@miamioh.edu
