The 4ᵗʰ Place Standard

Issued by Stathmos · fourthplacestandard.org · CC BY-ND 4.0

Version 0.1 · May 2026

Preamble

This document defines the 4ᵗʰ Place Standard: a voluntary, self-identified commitment by a venue to refrain from broadcasting private audio into its shared interior space. It is a civic norm, not a regulation. No party — neither the standard’s maintainers, nor adopting venues, nor patrons — has enforcement power beyond hospitality.

The standard exists because the third place — Ray Oldenburg’s term for civic space neither home nor work — has been progressively degraded by the migration of private audio (calls, videos, music) into shared rooms. The standard names what venues can declare to restore the norm, and what patrons can recognize when choosing where to gather, read, work, eat, and rest.

The standard is short by design. It governs one specific behavior, with clear scope and clear exceptions.

1 · Definitions

Venue. Any physical space whose operator decides to adopt this standard. Includes but is not limited to: cafes, restaurants, bars, libraries, bookstores, museums, hotels, hostels, co-working spaces, theaters, classical and jazz venues, cinemas, transit cars, and residential shared spaces.

Shared interior space. Any space within the venue accessible to multiple patrons simultaneously. Includes lobbies, dining rooms, reading areas, work areas, waiting areas, hallways, and any indoor area where patrons gather.

Private audio. Audio originating from a personal electronic device (phone, tablet, laptop, smart watch, portable speaker) intended for the personal use of one person or one party. Distinguished from venue-controlled audio (background music selected by the venue, public announcements, intentional performances).

Broadcast. To emit audio into shared interior space in a manner audible to other patrons present, whether intended or incidental.

Patron. Any person present in the venue’s shared interior space, including paying customers, guests, staff on break, and members of the public where the venue is publicly accessible.

2 · The Commitment

A venue that adopts this standard commits to the following:

Private audio is not broadcast in our shared interior space. Calls and videos are taken with headphones or earbuds, or outside.

This commitment is made publicly via display of the 4ᵗʰ Place placard at the venue’s entrance and within its shared interior space, and via the venue’s listing in the public 4ᵗʰ Place directory.

3 · Scope

The standard covers the following behaviors when occurring in shared interior space:

  • Speakerphone voice calls
  • Video calls with audible audio (FaceTime, WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Meet, and equivalents)
  • Playback of video, music, or audio content through device speakers
  • Playback of voice messages aloud
  • Audio from games or other applications
  • Auto-playing social-media content with sound

The standard applies regardless of volume, with the principle that audio meant for one person or one party is not material for a shared room.

4 · Resolutions

A patron whose use of private audio falls within scope is expected to resolve via one of the following:

  1. Use headphones or earbuds. Most direct resolution.
  2. Take the audio outside the venue. Acceptable for calls and longer media.
  3. Mute and resume later. Acceptable for content that does not require immediate audio.

The standard does not require patrons to abandon their activity; it requires them to remove the audio externality from the shared room.

5 · Exceptions

The following are outside the scope of this standard:

  • Accessibility. Audio assistance for hearing impairment, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices, screen readers when needed in shared space, and other accessibility uses.
  • Emergency communication. Active emergencies in which putting on headphones or moving outside would cause material delay or harm.
  • Necessary brief exchanges. Quickly answering “I can’t talk, I’ll call you back” or equivalent brief use.
  • Caregiver-child interaction. A caregiver soothing or attending to a young child where the alternative would be disruptive in different ways.
  • Staff operational use. Venue staff using devices for work-related communication.
  • Patron consent. Audio that is part of an organized group activity (a tour, a class, a meeting room reservation) where all present have consented.

The exceptions are not loopholes. The standard concerns discretionary private audio, not necessary communication. Operators may interpret exceptions in good faith.

6 · Adoption Requirements

A venue adopting this standard agrees to:

  1. Display the placard. At least one 4ᵗʰ Place placard, in the standard format provided, visible to patrons entering the venue. Larger venues display additional placards in interior spaces.
  2. Train staff briefly. Staff are made aware of the standard and the recommended phrasing for asking patrons to comply (see Section 7).
  3. Register in the public directory. Free registration at fourthplacestandard.org/register. The venue’s name, location, and adoption date become part of the public directory.
  4. Honor the standard in good faith. No requirement of perfection. Staff are not asked to police, only to ask politely when private audio is occurring and a patron is unaware or has not noticed.

A venue may withdraw from the standard at any time by removing the placard and notifying the directory. No fee, no friction.

The standard provides recommended phrasing because awkward enforcement undermines adoption. Staff are encouraged to use language similar to:

  • “Hi — quick thing — we’re a 4ᵗʰ Place, which means calls and videos with headphones, or outside if that’s easier. Thanks.”
  • “Hey — we keep audio off speakers here. There’s a sign by the door.”
  • “Sorry to interrupt — would you mind using headphones or stepping outside for that?”

Staff are not asked to debate the standard, lecture patrons, or escalate beyond a polite first ask. If a patron declines to comply, staff use their normal hospitality judgment. The placard’s role is to make the norm visible; the staff’s role is to point at it once.

8 · The Placard

The placard is a standardized square sign, modeled on the U.S. restaurant health-rating system. Specification:

  • Format. Square. Default size 100mm × 100mm (also produced at 50mm and 200mm).
  • Glyph. Single localized ordinal centered in the upper portion of the square: 4ᵗʰ (English), 4º (Spanish, Portuguese), 4ᵉ (French), 4ᵃ (Italian), 4ᵗᵉ (German), or the universal numeral 4 where ordinal does not apply.
  • Label. Below the glyph in small caps: PLACE / LUGAR / LIEU / POSTO / LUOGO / ORT or local equivalent.
  • URL. Hairline at bottom edge: fourthplacestandard.org.
  • Color. Persian cobalt #0C3F7C on bone #F4F0E8 (default), with navy #08305F border. For darker venues, an outline variant inverts (bone background, cobalt glyph and border). One color combination only — no other blues, no gradients, no photographs. WCAG contrast of the default combination is 8.4:1.
  • Typography. Source Serif 4 (display, weight 700, optical size 60) for the glyph; IBM Plex Sans (medium, small caps) for the label; IBM Plex Mono for the URL caption.

Placards are downloadable free in print-ready PDF, SVG, and PNG formats. Printed placards may be ordered at cost from the standard’s maintainers; no party may sell placards above cost.

9 · Verification

Adoption is self-identified at registration. The standard does not have an inspection arm. Three mechanisms provide soft verification:

  1. Public directory. Adopters are publicly listed and findable. Claiming the standard means being on the list.
  2. Patron reporting. The directory allows patrons to flag venues that display the placard but do not honor the standard in practice. Persistent complaints trigger maintainer review.
  3. Explicit adopter agreement. Registration includes a one-screen explicit acknowledgment of the standard’s text. There is no ambiguity about what has been agreed to.

If a venue is found to display the placard while routinely permitting in-scope behavior, the venue is contacted privately. If the pattern continues, the venue is delisted from the public directory and asked to remove the placard. The standard’s maintainers do not publicly shame delisted venues.

10 · Patron Participation

The standard provides three named ways for patrons to participate:

Recognize. Look for the placard when choosing where to go. Prefer 4ᵗʰ Place venues for activities where shared-audio matters most: working, reading, conversing, eating, attending performances.

Request. Use the standard’s “Ask a Venue” card (downloadable at fourthplacestandard.org/ask) to give to a favorite venue that has not yet adopted. The card contains the link, the standard’s summary, and the adoption kit.

Report. Note in the public directory when a venue is meeting or not meeting the standard. Reports are not anonymous but are not published; they inform private outreach to the venue.

Patrons are not deputized as enforcers. The standard does not authorize patrons to confront other patrons. That role belongs to staff.

11 · Translation

The standard’s commitment text (Section 2) is fixed in each official translation. Translations are reviewed and published by the maintainers; venues may not produce variant translations of the commitment.

The rationale, preamble, and explanatory text may be locally adapted to register. The placard glyph and label are produced in official locale variants by the maintainers; venues do not produce custom placards.

12 · Revision

The standard is versioned. This is version 0.1.

Material revisions are released no more than once per year, after a public comment period of at least 30 days. Adopters are notified of revisions and asked to re-acknowledge the current version. Minor clarifications (typo fixes, translation refinements) are issued without re-acknowledgment and noted in the changelog.

13 · Governance

The standard is issued and maintained by Stathmos, a non-profit civic project, currently informal. (The organization is Stathmos; the standard and its placard are “4ᵗʰ Place” — the two names do separate jobs, on the model of UL Solutions and the UL Mark.) The project commits to:

  • Free public access to the standard, placards, and directory in perpetuity.
  • No advertising in the directory or on the placard.
  • No paid placement, paid certification tiers, or differential treatment of adopters.
  • No sale or licensing of the placard mark for commercial use unrelated to standard compliance.
  • Transparent governance: revision proposals, comments, and decisions published.

If the project incorporates as a non-profit, it will preserve these commitments in its governing documents.

14 · License

This standard document is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). It may be freely shared and reproduced, with attribution, and without modification. Modifications are explicitly not permitted: the standard means what it says, and partial or revised versions defeat its purpose.

The placard mark, glyph, and standardized square format are separately protected to prevent watered-down or commercial knockoffs. Use of the placard requires venue registration. See 4thplace-license.md for full terms.

End of Standard, Version 0.1, May 16, 2026.