Serendipity in Public Spaces

by Jacky

Serendipity is bumping into new people you otherwise wouldn’t have talked to or sought out. It’s the casual bus or subway chatter, the queue neighbour, or stranger reading on a park bench. It’s the opposite of intentionality.

Are there ways to be less intentional with digital interactions?

If you want to meet with someone you need to schedule it or visit a link, etc. There is no ‘random’ interaction. Even algorithmic experiences are like being carried away by the TikTok or Facebook algorithm rather than something out of the blue. Though these experiences may seem random at times, they are explicitly currated with an end goal in mind.

Are there any spaces that don’t have ulterior motives and are just places of gathering? The only example that comes to mind where ‘coincidental’ interaction happen is within currated interest groups like onlike network forums around games or technologies or early communities lead by superconnectors like the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL) . How can we recreate these public ‘watering holes’ for people to gather around?