Three Degrees of Separation

Even Microsoft has suggested that somewhat-discredited theory of "six degrees of separation-1967" may be accurate. I believe that those degrees may have changed over time, thanks to increasingly powerful communications technology. Of course, if it's true that communications technology is decreasing our degrees of separation, then it should continue to decrease at a decent pace. But could we have already made the jump down to just three degrees of separation?

According to Jeff Rodrigues, a social networking specialist that carried out the study, 97 percent of the participants said they felt more connected to people today than they ever have in the past and for older respondents, email and mobile phones (most common method of communication Maldives! Isn’t it?) were the key factors in reducing the degrees of separation. But for those in the younger generation, Facebook (again true) was the main factor. Text messaging (OMG! Seems like this was done on Maldives, hehe) was also mentioned as an important component in reducing degrees of separation.

Hence, the three degrees of separation can be true “in Maldivian context” based on the above study, technological facts and population. As the Maldivian population narrows the overall world population for each “connection” - so it should be no surprise that the degrees of separation are a lot smaller in Maldives, in fact it might be even less than three degrees!

Maybe it is time to revisit previous studies in a more robust way. It could help silence the critics who believe Facebook and the rest are nothing more than places for kids to waste their time. The “Three Degrees of Separation-Experiment” will tell us what we are looking for. Let’s face it – how often will you find one service or industry that can totally transform the way people are connected?