Instant messaging proves six degrees of separation
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
The idea that there are only six degrees of separation between any two people has been proved to be more than a myth by a study looking at the flow of instant messages around the world.
Microsoft researchers looked at 30 billion IM conversations – the entire Microsoft Messenger IM network as it stood in 2006 – between 180 million people around the world, according to The Australian.
By analysing the interconnections between different IM users, the researchers were able to construct a map of interconnectedness. And the result? Each IM user was separated from any one other by an average 6.6 degrees.
Of course, since not everyone in the world has a computer or uses instant messaging, the research can’t be said to hold true for the world’s population.
But it does give a fascinating insight into just how the internet is bringing the world together – and the potentially useful consequences of that interconnection.
“They could create large meshes of people who could be mobilised with the touch of a return key,” Eric Horvitz, one of the lead researchers on the project, says.
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