Matas Lebeliūnas

A summary of an article

The article “How closely connected are we? Or six degrees of separation” examines a social theory
of common connections between people , which originated from a 1929 book ‘Everything is
different’ by Frigyes Karinthy. The theory suggests that completely random individuals are closely
associated through a network of mutual acquaintances, even though their social circle consists of
only five to ten closest friends. Numerous studies and experiments showed that theory is true.
In 1967 the theory was tested by an experiment called the ‘Small-world problem’ devised by
Stanley Milgram. Milgram’s experiment showed that it took only between five and seven people to
connect to a chosen individual through personal networks, inspiring the phrase ‘Six degrees of
separation.’
The article also mentions the popular game ‘Six degrees of Kevin Bacon’ made by two college
students in mid-1990s, which depicts how closely connected is the movie star Kevin Bacon through
a network of different actors.
Also the article mentions that the theory was confirmed to be true on the internet. It highligts the
‘Columbia Small World’ project in 2003, which resulted in an average number of six links to reach
the targeted person through a network of email adresses. On top of that, an experiment in 2011 at
the University of Milan showed that it took only four to five stages of separation to reach an
individual on social media.
In short, the article suggests that the chance to connect with a random person through a personal
network is unexpectedly high.