People, Places, and Ties: Landscape of social places and their social network structures

TL;DR

This study systematically analyzes the distribution and social network structures of third places across the U.S. using Facebook data, revealing geographic heterogeneity and differing community patterns among types of social places.

Contribution

Provides the first large-scale, nationwide analysis of third places and their social networks, highlighting geographic heterogeneity and differences in social connectivity patterns.

Findings

Geographic heterogeneity in third place distribution correlates with demographics.

'Places of Worship' show high clustering, indicating community preference.

Social networks of 'Restaurants' and 'Indoor Recreation' are more tightly knit, while 'Places of Worship' bridge new friendships.

Abstract

Due to their essential role as places for socialization, "third places" - social places where people casually visit and communicate with friends and neighbors - have been studied by a wide range of fields including network science, sociology, geography, urban planning, and regional studies. However, the lack of a large-scale census on third places kept researchers from systematic investigations. Here we provide a systematic nationwide investigation of third places and their social networks, by using Facebook pages. Our analysis reveals a large degree of geographic heterogeneity in the distribution of the types of third places, which is highly correlated with baseline demographics and county characteristics. Certain types of pages like "Places of Worship" demonstrate a large degree of clustering suggesting community preference or potential complementarities to concentration. We also found that the social networks of different types of social place differ in important ways: The social networks of 'Restaurants' and 'Indoor Recreation' pages are more likely to be tight-knit communities of pre-existing friendships whereas 'Places of Worship' and 'Community Amenities' page categories are more likely to bridge new friendship ties. We believe that this study can serve as an important milestone for future studies on the systematic comparative study of social spaces and their social relationships.