Let’s go to the mall? How about the arcade? What about the movie theater?
Oh, wait. They all closed down.
The downfall of proper third places is one of the most boring “evolutions” of the 21st century.
For the uninitiated, a third place is any community area separate from the home (first place) and work (second place). For many, restaurants, malls, or theaters would come to mind. However, that is exactly where the problem arises.
Just within a few miles of West Chicago alone, two malls and a movie theater have gone out of business. Prices for restaurants have gone up ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, making eating out way less appetizing. For the first time in modern history, it is becoming harder to spend time with peers.
“In 2020, Coresight Research projected that 25% of the country’s approximately 1,000 malls would close shop in the following 3-5 years. In April, analysts at UBS projected that 40,000-50,000 American retail stores would shut down by 2027,” Tim Levin, writer for Business Insider, said.
People have reacted to the loss of third places in different ways. Most have chosen to go online, finding community in video games or, much more commonly, social media. There is nothing theoretically wrong with a balanced use of social media, but it would not be wrong to guess that most people fail at doing so. Time is the most valuable resource humans have; the main method of socialization should not also be designed to make users addicted to it.
“That means that we needed to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever … It’s a social-validation feedback loop … You’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology … [The inventors] understood this, consciously, and we did it anyway,” Sean Parker, first President of Facebook, said.
In addition to contributing to general feelings of loneliness and anxiety, a lack of physical third places is a big reason modern life feels so commercialized. There is no separating oneself from the commodified internet: financial courses by posers on Twitter, items of questionable quality on TikTok’s shop, or cosmetics on Instagram. When apps like these are the primary way to relax and or socialize, users are always a product.
There is also clear value in face-to-face interaction and a common place to relax. Even people who are not very social benefit from talking with a friend in a relaxed space occasionally. Studies have shown it releases oxytocin in the brain, reducing stress and blood pressure.
There is not much that regular people can do on a macroscale to “bring back” the glory days of places like malls. What can be done though, is the next time one is on a FaceTime call with their friends, consider going to a local coffee shop instead.
If there is one nearby, that is.
