ABSTRACT
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you like to eat apples?” We have all been asked questions of this nature. The numerical response to this question is called a Likert scale, which links a subjective preference to a numerical value. The question this chapter asks is: “Do social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook and Twitter offer the same amenities for social connectivity as physical ‘third places’ such as cafes and beauty salons?” To answer this question, the authors created a scale to measure “thirdplaceness” of virtual environments and then tested it on four SNS: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter. As originally propounded by Ray Oldenburg, physical third places by definition create a sense of interiority as a participant’s sense of belonging transcends the characteristics of the physical place. Do connections on virtual SNS platforms do the same? The generalizable aspect of this chapter is the testing of a quantitative (i.e., numerical) scale.
