Comments on: More on hyperconnectivity and six – or three – degrees of separation

By: FreshNetworks Blog » Blog Archive » Six degrees of separation is now three

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:18:48 +0000

[...] More on hyperconnectivity and six – or three – degrees of separation [...]

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:45:16 +0000

Hi Alex. That's cool how you and your sister commented your way to the same destination from different starting points. How many steps did it take for you to meet up at the same blog?

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:10:48 +0000

My sister and I started uber-commenting on blogs recently and we ended up in the same community but we came at it from completely different blogs and without any discussion of how we were blogging/looking for blog to comment on.

So, yeah, the world is getting smaller, for sure.

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:12:52 +0000

I think social networking and the like can make it easier to contact people (and hopefully get a response) than in previous decades. Will that actually make people any closer? Dunno yet.

By: Cath Lawson

Cath Lawson — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:36:02 +0000

Hi Mark, it's an interesting concept. I wonder if social networking can half those degrees of seperation? and I'm not so sure. I guess we get to connect with more people but that doesn't really bring us closer to folk we were six degrees away from before. But I do think it enables to connect with them quicker – eg in terms of passing on a marketing message etc.

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:50:33 +0000

I can believe it. I think weak links (or initially weak links) provide ways for us to transcend our current social networks.

By: bmevans

bmevans — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:52:50 +0000

It is interesting to consider how technology changes our access to people. One theory is that social networks let us maintain more connections with people we are distantly connected to—or the weak links. But the weak links often prove to be the most valuable resources for us (for getting jobs, new information, etc.) Dodds, Muhamad & Watts (2003) did a 6-degrees study with email exchanges (instead of phone or snail mail). They found that completed chains had an average length of ~4 links, but also that the most successful chains were completed through people's weak links!

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:41:55 +0000

Haven't tried to trace myself to Kevin Bacon…

By: thejimgaudet

thejimgaudet — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:42:17 +0000

Do you know Kevin Bacon? I still can't link myself to him…

I think that is an interesting concept that you can link within 3 degrees if you search within your hobbies. Interested in seeing the numbers.