The researchers added: ‘When considering even the most distant Facebook user in the Siberian tundra or the Peruvian rainforest, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend.’ ‘As Facebook has grown over the years, representing an ever larger fraction of the global population, it has become even more connected.’ ‘It connects people who are far apart, but also has the dense local structure we see in small communities. This even applied to older users – including those aged 60.įacebook said: ‘In these works, we show how the Facebook social network is at once both global and local. Users tended to also be loosely connected to people with a similar number of friends and of the same age. The majority of the connections, some 84 per cent, were between users in the same country which meant that 16 per cent were with people abroad. When their analysis was limited to single countries the numbers were lower and in the U.S., Sweden or Italy it was closer to an even four.
The figure has gone down from 5.28 in 2008 and has been caused by the rise in social networking and sharing websites. The average person needs just 4.74 ‘hops’ to get to anybody in the world, be it a Hollywood star or a peasant living in the rural China. In the largest study of its kind ever undertaken, they found that as Facebook has grown the average distance between users has shrunk to 4.74 hops, but in some places it is even less. No longer are we six degrees of separation apart – Earth is much smaller now than it used to be.įacebook worked with researchers at the Università degli Studi di Milano in Italy and looked at all 721 million of its active users, equivalent to 10 per cent of the world’s population and a total of 69 billion friendships. The startling figure shows how interconnected our world is becoming and how widespread use of the internet is collapsing physical distance on an unprecedented scale. The average person needs just 4.74 ‘hops’ to get to anybody in the world, be it a Hollywood star or a peasant living in rural China.
“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued.It used to be that we were all just six degrees of separation apart – ie you could ‘connect’ anyone to anyone else via finding a friend who knew someone else, who knew someone else, and so on.īut now research by Facebook has found that the gap between us all has shrunk – to as little as four people.
FOUR DEGREES OF SEPARATION SERIES
It’s the small things like this that make lasting impact and show people that you care.Ĭomment: Do you have a great story about the power of networking? Share it with us!īONUS PINK Link: Still waiting on that big promotion? See which internal barriers may be holding you back.ĭarrah is the co-founder of Equitable Payments, a merchant services brokerage, and author of Finance Whiz Kids, a series of kids book that teach the basics of financial education. If your contact mentions something big coming up (say a birthday, anniversary, promotion or travel) make a mental note to follow up and ask how that went or send a nice note their way. Everyone loves to be heard, so take this opportunity to ask great questions build rapport. What need does someone else have and how can you use your resources to fill that gap?Īs you begin to set up lunches or meetings with your contacts (new or old), try to listen more than you talk. Remember, relationship building is best approached with a how-can-I-help-you mentality rather than a what-can-you-do-for-me mindset. You never know when you’ll need someone to make an introduction.Īnd, it’s improper to ask someone for help when you’ve not spoken to her in ages, but now are doing so simply to ask for something. Even if you feel like you don’t need to network, you do. How beneficial can a strong network be to your career? Very.Īnd, here’s what you can do to make yours stronger.Ĭultivate and invest in those relationships first. In fact, research by Facebook scientists and the University of Milan shows the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the world is not six but 4.74. But, we’ve learned (and LinkedIn has reinforced) that there are really less. The old saying says there are only six degrees of separation between you and anyone else on the planet. Four Degrees of Separation! SeptemMy Career, PINK Notes Off
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