I saw a thread titled "where do I even meet women?" and thought of the sociological theory of "The Third Place". It's basically the concept of a communal space that isn't the home or the workplace, where you can meet new people and socialise. Examples would be church, libraries, coffee shops, nightclubs etc.
en.wikipedia.org
Now I thought about this in relation to meeting women. The Third Place is disappearing. Church used to be a central part of everyone's life and social events arranged by the church beyond just mass were very common. Religion is obviously on the decline and even among believers attendance to these things is dwindling. Nobody goes to libraries anymore, and if they do, they have headphones in and aren't there to socialize. The concept of meeting someone in a coffee shop is becoming less appealing to people. Most people just want to crash in the couch and put on Netflix after work, not engage in small talk that can as easily be handled over Facetime if need be. Nightclubs are closing up at a high rate because Gen Z drinks less and the drinks they do drink are getting too expensive. Gen Z would rather spend Friday night on TikTok. So where does that leave us where it comes to meeting women? Well that Third Place is shrinking. There is no way to meet girls genuinely. Even if you were to go to a book club or something like that, every woman there has a catalogue of 50 suitors on her phone one click away, so why would she choose to talk to your ugly ass?
When The Third Place was alive and well, less attractive guys could have a shot because the pool of people in the community was strong-knit and limited. When Charles met Mandy at the church BBQ in 1958, Mandy didn't have access to 50 more attractive men in her pocket and she knew that she could never get with Roger, the town-Chad and basically the only Chad she'd seen IRL. Charles was allowed to at least get a chance.
I don't see The Third Place ever getting a revival as Gen Alpha come out of the womb, their eyes strapped to an iPad.
Third place - Wikipedia
Now I thought about this in relation to meeting women. The Third Place is disappearing. Church used to be a central part of everyone's life and social events arranged by the church beyond just mass were very common. Religion is obviously on the decline and even among believers attendance to these things is dwindling. Nobody goes to libraries anymore, and if they do, they have headphones in and aren't there to socialize. The concept of meeting someone in a coffee shop is becoming less appealing to people. Most people just want to crash in the couch and put on Netflix after work, not engage in small talk that can as easily be handled over Facetime if need be. Nightclubs are closing up at a high rate because Gen Z drinks less and the drinks they do drink are getting too expensive. Gen Z would rather spend Friday night on TikTok. So where does that leave us where it comes to meeting women? Well that Third Place is shrinking. There is no way to meet girls genuinely. Even if you were to go to a book club or something like that, every woman there has a catalogue of 50 suitors on her phone one click away, so why would she choose to talk to your ugly ass?
When The Third Place was alive and well, less attractive guys could have a shot because the pool of people in the community was strong-knit and limited. When Charles met Mandy at the church BBQ in 1958, Mandy didn't have access to 50 more attractive men in her pocket and she knew that she could never get with Roger, the town-Chad and basically the only Chad she'd seen IRL. Charles was allowed to at least get a chance.
I don't see The Third Place ever getting a revival as Gen Alpha come out of the womb, their eyes strapped to an iPad.
