Category: Sociology
Social Interaction in Public Space

Over the years, public and semi-public places have emerged to be popular with society because they provide space to people with different lifestyles and ages to meet and interact. Whereas many public and semi-public places are put up for commercial purposes, clients go beyond enjoying the services provided at coffee shops to interact with others. In the process of such interactions, people establish weak and latent ties. Public places such as parks, markets, plazas, and coffee shops among others have become places of social engagement. In addition, these public and semi-public places provide people with space for democratic engagement. This paper seeks to analyze weak and latent ties established in public and semi-public places. It also highlights their importance and the impact of the use of phones and laptops on such ties. For this purpose, it is important to define weak and latent ties and the role they play.

Weak and Latent Ties Established in Public and Semi-Public Places

As people visit public and semi-public places, they tend to meet strangers with whom they have some things in common. As such, people may be united by the same social class or age group. As they hang around in the public and semi-public places, they may initiate conversations with others. People usually approach persons who fall in their age groups whenever they want to engage in a conversation in public places. A random conversation with a stranger can lead to the establishment of weak and latent ties. The latter established in public and semi-public places are usually weak or latent because the parties usually share information on general issues.

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The ties established among people who meet in public places are mainly weak and latent because they are not founded on strong grounds. Weak ties refer to relationships that can be easily dissolved. Usually, they thrive on a single channel of communication and are therefore likely to end when the latter stops. For instance, most of the conversations that happen in public places end once the people involved have dispersed. On the other hand, latent ties refer to relationships that become inactive at some point and appear non-existent anymore. The same happens to most relationships that people who meet in public places have. Such persons rarely keep in touch with those they meet in public places. Their ties are only revived when they meet again in such places.

The Importance of Weak and Latent Ties

Whereas weak and latent ties are established randomly in public and semi-public places, they have proven to be quite important. People can get a great deal of new information from the ones they meet in public places. Although the relationships established in such cases may not be strong, people who find themselves in such relationships tend to communicate with their new acquaintances on issues that are not personal in nature. Such communication mainly takes the question and answer form. Therefore, weak and latent ties enable them to learn new information from other people. It can be educative, making interlocutors more knowledgeable.

Weak and latent ties established in public and semi-public places also play a big role in encouraging democracy. As it has been mentioned above, public places provide space for democratic engagement. When people visit coffee shops or parks, they meet strangers, with some of whom they engage in conversations on various topics of common interest. In the process, the parties exchange ideas and share their opinions and views about various issues. Each person is given time to communicate his or her thoughts on the topic of discussion. Through such conversations, people learn to listen to others and to tolerate new ideas, opinions, and views. It is consistent with democracy, which entitles people to express their own opinions. Therefore, democracy is one of the many fields of knowledge, where one may learn something new.

Impact of Phone and Laptop Usage on Interactions

Advancements in technology have increased the use of phones and laptops in recent years in public and semi-public places. The wireless Internet is one of such advantages that has picked up, especially, in public places found in urban areas. People can now access the Internet through Wi-Fi connections in public places. Wireless access that people have in public places can be in the form of advanced networks for cellphones and the community wireless Internet. However, it should be noted that innovations that have led to increased use of phones and laptops have changed the patterns and nature of interactions seen in public and semi-public places. Although people from all age groups have embraced technological advancements, youths seem to be the most advanced users.

First, it should be noted that the use of phones and laptops has increased the visiting of public and semi-public places by people. As a result, people are no longer limited to traditional services offered in public places such as relaxing and getting drinks. In addition, people can now access various materials over the Internet. It means that the variety of services that can be enjoyed in public places has increased. Therefore, more people get attracted to visiting public and semi-public places, especially because of the use of phones and laptops. However, it should be noted that the increased number of visitors translates to increased interactions between people who visit such places.

The use of cellphones and laptops in public and semi-public places has increased democratic engagement among people. People have been enabled to access information through mass media, which makes them aware of different things happening in their environment. Cellphones and laptops also have social media platforms, through which users exchange their views on various events. In the process, people engage in conversations with many people online through social media platforms more than they do in public places. Therefore, the use of cellphones and laptops in public and semi-public places enables to establish even weaker and latent ties through social media.

Conclusion

It is evident that public and semi-public places are important for the interaction between people of different ages and classes. The fact that they visit such places at different times of the day shows definite patterns of interaction. People tend to be influenced to go to public places by the presence of those who are in their age groups. In addition, managers of public places should put more effort to make the ones more comfortable. Such a move will go a long way to attract more people to public places. Such facilities as free wireless Internet access also attract many people because it enables them to chat online and get information through their phones and laptops.

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