On Friday 5th January 2007, John Wright played some of the songs off his forthcoming album Dead Ape, Dead Bear, due to be released January 2008.
As Research Support Librarian at the University of Wales, Bangor’s Main Library, he writes, thinking about what we are trying to do with Rhwng: “I often talk about Oldenburg’s book The Great Good Place, where he describes the ‘third place’ as ‘the public places on neutral ground where people can gather and interact’.
A ‘third place’, then, seeks to facilitate activity which is open to all to engage with, and seeks to question, to explore, not to take for granted. I hope that the library facilitates in a similar way”.
Many thanks, John.
Two Quotes by Ray Oldenburg
“Life without community has produced, for many, a life style consisting mainly of a home-to-work-and-back-again shuttle. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community.”
“Most needed are those ‘third places’ which lend a public balance to the increased privatization of home life. Third places are nothing more than informal public gathering places. The phrase ‘third places’ derives from considering our homes to be the ‘first’ places in our lives, and our work places the ’second.’”
Quotes from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Oldenburg
John said,
August 3, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
It occured to me after that the so-called ‘digital native’ generation do most of their social networking in virtual third places, via the gamut of so-called ‘Web 2.0′ products – Facebook, MySpace, SecondLife, YouTube etc. What are the implications of this?
fionaowen said,
August 4, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Hi John,
Yes, interesting. I guess time will tell in terms of whether this kind of ‘virtual’ social interaction produces healthy, whole and humane human beings or not. I think it is important, though, to remember that we are embodied beings and not just talking heads. We learn hugely from the direct experience of others, from dwelling with.
I heard that the trend with freshers now is, when they first meet, to exchange e-addresses and then proceed to introduce themselves and chat to their peers online rather than face to face -? Does this mean that people will end up only being able to talk with others via a machine?
A disturbing thought!
fionaowen said,
August 9, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
However, just to balance my previous point, I do think it is worth remembering that technology has allowed us to reach across distance and communicate/explore ideas and issues with others; as we are doing here, John, in this ‘conversation’ that we might not have had otherwise (so thanks for ‘commenting’!). In this way, technology is the opposite of being alienating -? It would seem to be a facilitator. ‘Con-vers-ation’: to turn with (poet Paul Matthews reminded me of this meaning). We are turning our thinking over and around between us and this I find helpful as a form of deepening my understanding.
I see this weblog (and my personal weblog) as a means of engaging more fully with, and co-creating, ‘community’. I guess we exist now in many communities and this seems to me to be an enrichment. We are ’self-among-others’ and, for me, my ’self’ is deepened and expanded through relationship and the many communities that help make a ’self’.* So if technology helps to extend community and exploration and general friendliness, then great! As with all things, getting the balance right is what would seem to matter (that ‘rhwng’ thing!).
Diolch John!
*This includes relationship with other human beings but also with non-human beings (animals, the natural world) and also with the ongoing adventure and mystery of indwelling ‘life’.
John said,
August 22, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
I think virtual social platforms tend to work on a fairly trivial and superficial level, or perhaps that is just the way they are usually implemented? Texting for example doesn’t really facilitate any depth of communication. It tends to provide either a reassurance for a society which is increasingly over-cautious about travel within ‘real’ social spaces eg ‘I’m on the train’, ‘I landed safely’. Or it works on a purely practical level for arranging meetings etc.
Blogs however have real potential!
John