- Text
Six-degrees of separation? Facebook says more like 4.74
(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)
A new study released by Facebook and researchers at the Universita degli Studi di Milano claim that the rise of modern computing allows us to properly measure our connections on a global scale. Wrap your head around the fact that they examined 721 million Facebook users, which is about 10 percent of the global population.
Compare those numbers to social psychologist Stanley Milgram's 1967 "small-world experiment," which inspired the six-degrees theory. Milgram's trial only included 296 people in the Boston area.
Using a "state-of-the-art algorithm," the researchers found that our long-time belief is an over estimation.
"We found that six degrees actually overstates the number of links between typical pairs of users: While 99.6 percent of all pairs of users are connected by paths with 5 degrees, 92 percent are connected by only four degrees," the Facebook data team said in a note.
Some of these findings are just common sense. For instance, as Facebook users grow, the degree of separation shrinks. And while the Internet makes it possible for us to be a few degrees apart, most of your Facebook friends are likely to be close in age and from the same country.
When researchers applied the same algorithm to a single country, like the U.S., Sweden or Italy, the separation dropped to three degrees.
These new findings are great, but it's going to put a damper on this season's holiday party games. "Four-point-seventy-four-degrees of Kevin Bacon" anyone?
- Simpsons Arcade finally makes it to Xbox 360, PS3
- iPhone 5 will reportedly launch in the fall
- Apple to build largest private solar farm in U.S.
- PS Vita worth the money? We go hands-on
- "Googlighting" video takes a hit at Google
- Whitney Houston film not pulled from Netflix
- iPad mini in testing stage, says research firm
- Apple iPhone 5 rumors, reports say June release
- Shocking Stats on Texting While Driving
- Apple MacBook Pro getting makeover, says new report
- Facebook required for Spotify account, here's a trick
- Apple iPad getting Microsoft Office Suite? Sources say coming soon
- Apple iPad 3 rumors resurface, sources say March release
- Foxconn says it will raise salaries
- What is Pinterest?
- How to get the Diablo III beta test
- Microsoft redesigns Windows logo
- 2 charged in death of Ala girl forced to run
- 2 charged in death of Ala girl forced to run
- India gov't asks top court to keep gay sex illegal
- China urges Iran to cooperate with UN inspectors
on Facebook
- Six decades of Oscar fashion
- Christie: Buffett should "write a check and shut up"
- "Biggest Loser" contestants reportedly threaten to quit
- Is world's shortest man this 22-inch-tall Nepalese 72-year-old?
on CBS News










