My responses to Adam Greenfield’s crossroads essay:

One thing that I know is true of modern Times Square, but I’m not sure is true of the others, is that few people who actually live in New York would go there of their own free will. The very same Schelling point that draws in people unfamiliar with the city drives away those who have an existing relationship with this space; once you know of less-obvious meeting places, Times Square rarely becomes the most convenient or productive place to meet. And when New Yorkers do go to Times Square (assuming they’re not just passing through), it’s almost certainly to people-watch all the tourists. In that sense, it seems like a crossroads specifically constructed for outsiders, as nearly all landmarks are. Tourists and natives of a city travel different routes, and the iconic places of a city are often not the same to those who live there as those who visit.

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But perhaps that’s what makes them so primed for digital mediation - these non-natives are already out of their element, and so primed for new experiences. And, as Adam mentioned, they’re already creating and sharing media from these locations on a grand scale. Not to mention the scale of forced interactions with others and their media-creation tools - these spaces are probably some of the