Yahoo and Facebook to test "six degrees of separation"
Posted: 16 Aug 2011, 21:50
Official description:
I won't be participating in this (I have better things to spend my time on) - but if I find that Julius Malema is within six degrees of separation from me, I may well perform seppuku...
Link to blog post detailing this, as well as the history behind the six degrees of separation thing for those unaware of it.The Small World Experiment is designed to test the hypothesis that anyone in the world can get a message to anyone else in just “six degrees of separation” by passing it from friend to friend. Sociologists have tried to prove (or disprove) this claim for decades, but it is still unresolved.
Now, using Facebook we finally have the technology to put the hypothesis to a proper scientific test. By participating in this experiment, you’ll not only get to see how you’re connected to people you might never otherwise encounter, you will also be helping to advance the science of social networks.
I won't be participating in this (I have better things to spend my time on) - but if I find that Julius Malema is within six degrees of separation from me, I may well perform seppuku...
. I know nothing about this six degrees of separation...