To explore the potential of using audio by itself in a shared media system, we studied a workgroup using an audio-only media space. This media space, called Thunderwire, combined high-quality audio with open connections to create a shared space for its users. The two-month field study provided a richly nuanced understanding of this audio space's social use. The system afforded rich sociable interactions. Indeed, within the field study, audio by itself afforded a telepresent environment for its users. However while a usable media space and a useful social space, Thunderwire required its users to adapt to many audio-only conditions. Keywords: Audio, audio spaces, media spaces, electronic social spaces, social presence, speech interactions, mediated communication, computer-mediated communication, CMC, telepresence, social interactions, rich interactions, norms INTRODUCTION Media spaces have existed in increasingly usable and powerful forms for over a decade [2]. As Meyrowitz explains,...