Yeah, I like to read some of the blogs and forums from my closer vicinity of the globe (or even further away). And I am also one to regularly comment on stuff here and there, what I like and what not. Especially blogging has become an important information channel for all kinds of issues. And it is growing daily. It has been awarded the status of serious journalism in legal matters, so that has to mean something. I try not to give something for the sake of being giving something, so I usually try to say a little more than “Dude, that’s cool” or “Dude, that sucks”. But it seems as if I am an old-fashioned geezer when it comes to demanding a little quality. I once (unintentionally) started a flame-war (I later on learned that this is what it was called) because someone wrote “Tourism is very important for Vienna” as a starter for his post, and since I am sure that tourism is not as important as retail, office work, industry and (public-)services and that Vienna could go on easily with less tourists, I demanded some facts. I like facts. What I got was swear-words. And still I am waiting for the post on the importance of tourism for Vienna the original author of the posting promised to me.

Some days ago on metblogs – which is a really neat idea to present your city to the world – a girl calling herself “leftistoe” answered to the question “What’s your favourite third place?”. She said “Starbucks.” So I wrote this:

Starbucks is the global corporate, polished on the surface ugly on the inside, marketing-varnished, brand-positioned, turnover-oriented version of a third place. So much so, that they even used the phrase as an advertisement-slogan. Yuck! That's like answering McDonald's to the question: what's your favorite family restaurant.
In a city with a few hundred years tradition of coffeehouses, beer gardens, heurigen, I'd hope for something better than that from people who want to present this city to the world.

Here is one answer:

crackerjack: I like you most when you wipe our your own arguments, just like you did now. First you state your completely subjective view on Starbucks, complete with a hint of the anti-Americanism that's all the rage among Leftists today, and then you accuse us of not sharing your concept of a third place, or resting culture. Surprise: We are not elected officials. We are bloggers. We represent not the city itself, but our living experience in it. And the last time I checked, this place was still a representive democracy, and people can choose whatever restaurant, coffeeshop or whatnot as their third place that they like. And, as shocking as that might sound to you, there are people out there who like glocal corporate culture. Also, for the record, your snotnosed remarks aren't especially representative to the world either. (Philip)

Funnier things have happened.

@ Phillip: I didn't accuse anyone of anything. I just mentioned that Starbucks is a yuck-choice of a third place. If I wanted anyone to share my concept of a third place, I would have had to mention my concept, wouldn't I?
Moreover, you are right to insist on everybodys right to speak out their own opinion, e.g. liking global corporations like Starbucks and not caring about how they give a shit about worker's rights, fair trade or how they put censorship on everything (Starbucks stepped back from selling the last Springsteen-CD because it wasn't up to their family values!) But you'd also have to include me and my opinion.
You have any right to like McDonalds, Nike and Starbucks, listen to Take That and download ringtones from Jamba and tell us about it. You also have the right to not like all of the mentioned and tell us about it. Surprise: Either way you might get a reaction that you don't like.
P.S.: I am still waiting for your post on the cultural importance of tourism on a city like Vienna.

No answer for a few days, but the author of the “Starbucks”-Answer posted:

:crackerjack

honestly there is no need to get your knickers in a twist over something as unimportant as Starbucks being my third place.

I regularly read the London blog and had read the original post and the comments there before Philipp posted it to us. I promptly replied to that unlike other vienna metbloggers who did the smart thing and read Philipps Question more carefully. If you read the london blog for june the10th you will notice it is more about where we end up spending time other than work and home - not where we unwind or would prefer to. In london living as a foreign student in a tiny box on an even tinier budget you end up making one other place your third place and that is where you are not thrown out even after 5 hours and you can hook up your laptops to work. Those are the deciding factors for most foreign students who spend hours commuting and dont particularly like going back to their shared hostel rooms where your feet are practically out of the door when you sleep. The same habits in this case shifted to Vienna whenever there was even one person bringing in a laptop to work for a few hours together or visiting friends who preferred to make it a meeting point due to its central location - convenience. As simple as that crackerjack.

A long history on the background of each post as to why this or that was written is frankly very tedious as this post is proving to be. Most posts on blogs and forums are written on the spur of the moment within a few minutes by random unimportant strangers and dont really require a positive or a negative reaction - they are just meant to be read and forgotten.
I propose The Third Reaction: which is No Reaction.

Wow, I had to read that again: “Posts are just meant to be read and forgotten.” That opens up so many questions I am overwhelmed at writing them down all at once. Why do you post at all if it should be read and forgotten? Why should I read something if I am meant to forget it anyway? How can you expect anyone to read something and not react to it? Would you not react to someone writing e.g. racist or fascist stuff on the blog? If you are posting something to a possibly very large amount of people, shouldn’t you take a little thought to produce something worthwhile? Is everything longer than 300 words really tedious for you? Do you really want to read stuff yourself only to forget it? What about all those bloggers trying to establish their work as a form of journalism?

So I wrote (on the spur of the moment, but definitely meant to be read and reacted upon):

This has to be the most naïve thing I ever read about public communication aka blogs. And that’s putting it friendly.

Of course, no answer. Anything else would have been inconsequent.

Source: http://vienna.metblogs.com/archives/2005/07/qotw_what_is_yo.phtml