In class we discussed the theory of weak ties and strong ties, and the idea that a weak tie bridge is inevitably a powerful social connection because it opens up an entirely new set of resources to an existing strong-tie social network.  This reminded me of the role of public space as the site of encounter with strangers.  Architecture and urban design theorists argue that a place has a strong democratic, civic voice when its public spaces become the sites for exchange among diverse groups and individuals.  This can be observed in demonstrations and debates in public space, as well as the simpler encounters typical of “people-watching” and the posting of fliers and other signage.  In this way, a shared public space can be understood as an edge acting as a bridge between different strong-tied social networks. 

Critical to this argument is the ability for diverse individuals to share the same space at the same time, if only temporarily.  But what happens if the density of a place is so low that people rarely cross paths?  For example, in a suburban neighborhood, there are people outside in public spaces of all sorts; walking on the sidewalk, on their porches, in their front yards, etc.  However, they rarely interact with other people in these public spaces because the overall density of suburbia is extremely low.  Another very different example comes from urban spaces of transit, like a bus stop that sees a great deal of people pass through the same public space, but at different times.  This interaction is rare because it would need to be mediated through signage or other graffiti-like communication able to be read by different people passing through the same space over time.

Recently, the marriage of physical public space and digital public space through ubiquitous computing technologies has created the potential to resuscitate these low-density public spaces as the site for encounter among diverse individuals and groups, and potentially the formation of weak-tie bridges between them.  Here, public space is treated as a hybrid digital/physical space that either spans distance or time in order to increase the density of individuals sharing a social exchange.  The following link describes one of the early projects that set the course for future work developing digital/physical public spaces.  In this example, communication among diverse groups takes place across different locations at the same time, becoming a bridge between networks and forging weak ties:  http://www.ecafe.com/getty/table.html