Yahoo! uses Facebook to test six degrees of separation theory
May 24, 2013 - 14:20
Yahoo! Research is testing whether the theory about six degrees of separation- that any two people can be shown to be connected through friends in six links or fewer – is true. And if you have a Facebook account, you can participate in the project called – the Small World Experiment. This is designed to test whether anyone in the world can send a message to anyone else, randomly selected from a pool of Facebook users who agree to make themselves a target, in six steps by passing it from friend to friend. Sociologists have long pondered whether the theory has any teeth, but there's never been any solid evidence to support or disprove the idea.
Yahoo! Research is testing whether the theory about six degrees of separation- that any two people can be shown to be connected through friends in six links or fewer – is true. And if you have a Facebook account, you can participate in the project called – the Small World Experiment. This is designed to test whether anyone in the world can send a message to anyone else, randomly selected from a pool of Facebook users who agree to make themselves a target, in six steps by passing it from friend to friend. Sociologists have long pondered whether the theory has any teeth, but there's never been any solid evidence to support or disprove the idea.