Most people are familiar with the six degrees of separation theory and if you've read "The Tipping Point," your familiar with Lois Weisberg. Six Degrees basically says that most people in the world can be connected by six or less social connections. Milgram started by delivering a letter to residents in Omaha and asked them to get the letter to a stockbroker in Massachusetts, supplying his name. The individuals could only pass the letter on to someone that they already knew. Of those responding, the average number of connections separating the first individual and the target was six. With the advancement of the internet and social networking sites, I wonder if six degrees of separation has really become much less. So I am going over to The Small World Project and signing up...there done. Columbia University is basically attempting the experiment again. I have received my target's info and have started scrolling through my head to try and figure who would best be able to get into contact with her. I thought that my internet connections would make this easier, but now I realize that I don't really know most of them well enough to trust that they would get any closer to this person. I have lots of internet acquaintances, so maybe social networking is spreading us out instead of bunching us closer together. Part of Milgram's and others' findings indicate that instead of a unified and connected world, there are smaller highly connected groups with a few nodes like Lois Weisberg linking them all together. Instead of accessing my online contacts, I immediately turn to my small highly connected groups of which I am a part hoping that someone in that group will be able to connect with her. I hope to think of the next person within a day or two. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Labels: malcolm gladwell, six degrees of separation, small world, stanley milgram, Tipping Point