We hang out in space

Where do we hangout?

We all hang out in space(s) at any given point in time. The characteristics of the space we dwell in characterises of the quality of our life at the given moment. At this moment, I am writing this article cozily in my room with some slow music playing in the background. Even though it's gloomy and cold just outside my window, my room is actually quite comfortable. It's heated just right. I have diffused yellow lights around me just the way I like it. It's also a bit messy with clothes lying here and there but at this moment, I would definitely choose to be here at this private space of mine than being outside in the public space which is cold and gloomy.
We hang out in a space both physically and mentally. The physical existence is obvious. We are just bodies of flesh and bones constrained by the physical laws of nature. So physically we are just where we are.

But the mental existence is much more incomprehensible. We are often floating in an ether of imagination. We are often lost in thought. Constructing stories and possibilities in our heads. Feeling anxious or excited about the future or ruminating about the past. We are there where the attention of our mind is. I am often especially fascinated by the Zoom rooms. We pay our deference to the pixels. Our mind perceives it as the reality.

It is mediated so much by our mind and the senses. How many times in a day we get lost in thoughts? only to bring ourselves back to the here and now.

Symbolic machine

It is about the digital spaces where we dwell in for a notable time of our waking hours. We dwell in these digital spaces mentally mediated by technology. We experience life together with our friends, family, and fellow human beings through these digital spaces. Even if I am thousand miles apart from my friends, now I can laugh and cry together with them over a WhatsApp video call. Even if I am not able to crack my lame jokes with them in person, we keep sharing funny reels on Instagram to make each other laugh. Basically, we temporally pass time together through these digital spaces even if we are not together physically. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that probably we spending more time together with our friends digitally through group chats than in physical spaces. And it makes sense, right? A very important aspect of modern living is mobility. For our education and jobs, we are constantly moving. While I might have physically displaced myself entirely from India to US in a couple of days, some of the closest relationships that. We want to experience life together with people whom we are connected with through these invisible and magical bonds. These bonds are sustained through interactions and communication. And we need spaces where these interactions can happen. That's exactly what these digital platforms provide.

Even if we don't move, we need spaces to hang out with our friends. Places that are not too intimate as a house. But just a space to hang out.

Every Meta Virtual world is simply a manifestation of this.

Digital feudalism

We laugh together with other netizens sharing short videos and memes. We share our opinions in different sizes from comments to long essays. We get agitated together about the injustices in the world. We play together. We live together viscerally in one global digital village together where who everyone is a neighbor separated by just a few server calls, even though physically we might be thousands of miles apart.
Digital world offers a promise where one can be anything they want. An UX researcher who develops gaming controllers for the disabled shared with me how the digital gaming world is often the solace for many of the disabled. While they are limited by bodily restrictions in the physical world, in the digital world they can be anything. Basically here my thesis is that digital world can theoretically provide one with a flexibility and freedom that is impossible in the physical world for many.

The media equation book

At least this was the promise of the early days of social media.

Inception- quote

https://jacobin.com/2025/11/musk-thiel-altman-ai-tescrealism/