Other People's Bedrooms
At university I lived in a house with only bedrooms. It was cheap. Where there had been a lounge, now there was just a bigger bedroom that was rented out for a little more. It was great. But there was something missing.
I have always felt a bit odd visiting other people's bedrooms. (There are some times when this is a very good thing, but I am not talking about those times.) When you are in my bedroom, you are in my space. I define the rules, I can kick you out. Private spaces are not democratic spaces.
Most of our social networking tools are about private spaces (my spaces and your spaces), very few, if any deal with Our Spaces. Some builitien boards are public spaces, some community sites are public spaces, but most are not. Most are simply controlled open spaces, not unlike a restuarant or a mall. You may sit here, you may talk, but you are not allowed to bring your own food or play a musical instrument.
What makes a publc space ? How do we find the commons in a socail network ? Where do we build the villiage green that is free for citizens to use for all kinds of temporary purposes ?
We probably need to look for the origins of communinal living. What caused villiages to start in the first place, and how did they evolve to cope with more and more citizens. How were villiage greens used and managed ? With a little bit of work, we may be able to recreate those spaces in online communities.
Public spaces allow people to explore. They facilitate collaborative and competitive games. They bring together the population for festivities, they are used as markets and meeting places.
It's time to find the greens in the networks.