[Favorites] Six-Degree separation, six-degree Space (six degrees of separation) Theory

There will be no more than six people between you and any stranger. That is to say, you can know any stranger through a maximum of six people.

In fact, social networks are not profound. Their theoretical basis is "Six-Degree separation ". Social software is a value-added software and service built on a real social network. There is such a story that a German newspaper accepted a challenge a few years ago. He wanted to help a Turkish barbecue store owner in Frankfurt find his connection with his favorite movie star Malone branddu. As a result, several months later, the employees of the newspaper discovered that they had established a network of contacts after no more than six individuals had made private interactions. It turns out that the barbecue store owner is an Iraqi immigrant, and a friend lives in California. This friend's colleague is the daughter of the movie "this man is a little blue" and the boyfriend of the sisters who join in the Girls' Fellowship, malone Brando starred in this film.

You may think this is only a special case, but the chain research conducted by Stanley Milgram, a professor of psychology at Harvard University in 1967 also came to this conclusion. The modern version is the same experiment conducted by Columbia University today using e-mail. Some scientists have even demonstrated an evaluable mathematical model from this phenomenon. You may not know Clinton, but with optimization, you only need six people to get to know him. "Six-Degree separation" shows that there are common "weak links" in society, but it plays a very powerful role. Many people may experience the effect of this weak link when looking for a job.

This theory is even more striking in another way: "There will be no more than six people between you and any stranger, that is, you can meet any stranger with up to six people." This mysterious theory attracted mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists to invest in research and found that many other networks in the world have similar structures. For example, the architecture of the Interpersonal Network and WWW is almost the same, through the hypertext link network, the business connection network in economic activities, the food chain in the ecosystem, even the human brain neurons and the cellular interaction networks share the same organizational structure.

No matter how profound the theory is, the close combination of "Six-Degree separation" and the Internet has begun to reveal commercial value. People have been paying more and more attention to the research of social networks in recent years. Many network software have also begun to support people to establish more mutual trust and close social relations. These software are collectively referred to as "social software ). For example, a blog is a kind of social software. Because of the personality and continuity required for blog writing, the typical things of the blogger circle have become more and more like the interpersonal circle in real life in a similar ecological form. According to Mao Xianghui, who is devoted to studying social software, what is more popular abroad is a tool for fast dating or commercial connection, such as LinkedIn. It is easier for people around the world to find people with their own interests, to find business opportunities, to better understand and communicate with different ethnic groups, and so on.

There are many definitions of social software, and they are still evolving. Its core idea is actually an effect of aggregation. There are countless ways of arrangement and combination of people, society, and commerce. If there is no means of information to aggregate together, it is easy to lose. WWW has successfully aggregated text and graphics, so that the Internet can be applied. Instant Messaging aggregates people and generates tools such as ICQ. However, this is still virtual. Although Virtual is an advantage of the online world, it is separated from the real name and credit required by the commercial society. A trusted network will be generated through the aggregation of acquaintances separated by six degrees, and the commercial potential is indeed immeasurable.

Aggregation is also of practical value as the object of social research. Scientists at Cornell University developed an algorithm to identify the "sudden" growth in certain words in an article, these "sudden" growth texts can be used to quickly identify the latest trends and hot issues, so they can filter important information more effectively. In the past, many search technologies used simple calculation of the frequency of occurrence of text/phrases, but ignored the increasing speed of text usage. If this method is applied to advertisers, you can quickly find potential demands.

You may be numb to the terms of society, network, region, business, and blog. However, once those who anticipate opportunities find the commercial value of aggregating them, they will not only be changed in the online world.