Facebook Proving Six Degrees
Social Networking Program Putting Theory to the Test
It wasn't too long ago that losing touch with somebody meant that if neither party called, emailed, nor visited you had truly lost touch - then Facebook arrived.
It's continually amazing to witness how small the world has seemingly become, especially when there is a social networking program on the Internet such as Facebook. Since its arrival on the cyberspace scene, Facebook has become the social networking venue for people all over the world and has reconnected people who had lost touch years, maybe even decades, ago. And, it may be proof that the six degrees of separation theory truly exists.
Six Degrees Theory in Pop Culture
The six degrees of separation theory states that everyone on the planet can be connected or related to one other through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five links. It was an idea that was proposed in the early 20th century and has become notable in pop culture, such as the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game where players link other actors to Kevin Bacon through no more than five film roles. For example, Val Kilmer starred in Top Gun with Tom Cruise, who starred in A Few Good Men with Bacon. Even though Kilmer and Bacon never starred together in any film they are inextricably linked by the six degrees phenomenon. In addition to the game, there is a website that allows you to type in Bacon's name and the name of any actor and it will automatically generate the relationship between the two, in less than six degrees.
An Icon is Born
Facebook was founded by Harvard University student, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2004 and, after becoming available to everyone less than two years later, it quickly established itself as a popular alternative to other social networking programs, such as MySpace. Users set up a profile of themselves - usually complete with a profile picture and a list of favorite activities, movies, and television shows - and share their life updates, photos, videos, and more with friends also on the Facebook site. Users can scan through the friends lists of other users and see what mutual friends they share. This is where the six degrees theory makes its appearance as users undoubtedly realize the connections to each other through the friends they know and the networks they belong to.
Facebook Connecting the World
According to Fast Company website, Facebook is growing by an average of 3 per cent in the number of users each week and currently yields more than 70 million active users, according to Facebook. The top ten countries, in terms of users, not only include Canada and the United States, but also feature Turkey, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, France, Colombia and South Africa, true evidence that Facebook is bringing the world closer together.
An application has actually been added to Facebook which puts the six degrees of separation theory to the test. When used, the application will count the number of connections it takes for the user to get back to the application's developer. Perhaps this is just further proof of the way Facebook is making the small world theory more of a reality.
Sources:
Fast Company website
