Globalization and the development of social networks have encouraged human beings to create interpersonal relationships separated by degrees.
Just like in real life, in LinkedIn, the links between users are intertwined in a hierarchical pyramid from which different points start depending on the degree of closeness maintained with the other members. So we can deduce that this platform is based on the sociological hypothesis called “the six degrees of separation”, showing the number of connections in the world population.
It was the 1930s when Frigyes Karinthy, a Hungarian writer, proposed this theory through his work Chains. The plot of this short story was based on the fact that any person can be connected through a chain of acquaintances, demonstrating that we live in a small world of no more than five intermediaries to another person on the planet.
In the story, the characters discuss how increasing global interconnectedness is making distances between people shorter. Karinthy postulated that, due to advances in communication and transportation, the world was “shrinking” and that anyone could be connected to anyone else through a small network of acquaintances, proving the theory
Although the theory has been developed and popularized much later, especially with the advent of social networks and research on complex networks, Karinthy is credited with the first literary and conceptual formulation of this idea. His ahead-of-the-time vision has had a lasting impact on sociology, mathematics, and network theory, cementing his place in history as the precursor of the theory of six degrees of separation.
Many psychologists and playwrights have studied this theory and over the years, the six degrees of separation became an accepted idea in popular culture. The sociologist Duncan Watts also included this belief in the 6-step theory in his book Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age . Watts shows how the theory of the six degrees applies to different fields, such as sociology, biology, computer science, and physics. Explore how connectivity principles can explain phenomena as diverse as the spread of disease, neural networks, and the diffusion of innovations.
Explained this way, it seems that it is very difficult to list the people we know who could lead us to the person we want to meet, but just take a look at the list of followers on any social network to see that this could be possible in just six steps.
However, the rise of technologies has caused this data to change and reduce the six degrees of separation established in the 20th century. A study, published in 2013 and led by two researchers from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, concluded that the number of links separating two people within a social network, whatever their origin, was only four degrees, which is quite surprising, even ignoring the high degree nodes and thus reducing the six steps.
How LinkedIn adjusted the levels of contacts in the professional world to 3
Following this logic, LinkedIn has extrapolated this theory to its platform and it can be said that it has reduced the degrees of connection between users to three. Your network of valuable contacts is made up of first, second and third degree people.
First degree contacts are the people you are directly related to. Second-degree users are the contacts of your friends or acquaintances. And third grade people are the contacts of the contacts of your contacts. At first it can be a bit confusing, but it can be compared to when you have gossip and you say “well, it turns out that a friend of a friend, a friend of mine, told me…”
On LinkedIn, first and second category contacts can see all your profile data, but when we talk about the third degree of separation you begin to see some restrictions regarding the number of results that the person can browse.
Why is the theory of six (three) degrees so important on this platform?
Well, because it shows that the world is actually smaller than we think and that human beings are related to people with whom they have never had any contact, in addition to having the capacity to reach more individuals than estimated through social connections. We believe that we only have a primary network, but the truth is that the possibility of contacting third-line people is very close.
In addition, the three degrees of LinkedIn are also very related to networking, since it is a professional practice that consists of creating a useful network of contacts. But, you have to be very careful when establishing a relationship with other users and you have to define a strategy to know who you want to add or not.
Through this grade separation system, LinkedIn informs you of the companies, areas or positions that are closest to you, therefore, related to your objectives, which allows you to better develop your network of contacts.
This theory is also useful in multiple sectors of the business world to facilitate the creation of a user portfolio. And in marketing to promote the sale of your services among potential clients.
Therefore, a network on LinkedIn is very important and valuable, since it will allow you to create new relationships and open the doors to new opportunities, hence the consideration of strengthening relationships with your contacts.
Six degrees of separation, films, series and documentaries
If you want to see an interesting film based on the theory of six degrees of separation, in 1993 Fred Schepisi directed the film “Six Degrees of Separation” starring Donald Sutherland and Will Smith, although we must also mention Stockard Channing, for which this film was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. If the name of this actress doesn’t sound familiar to you, she is the one who starred as Betty Rizzo in Grease.
There are also series and documentaries that show the recurring pattern of six degrees. The most famous series that I recommend you watch is “Six Degrees” where 6 people who do not know each other and are very different from each other, continue with the daily routine of their lives, without realizing the impact they can have on each other, until a set of coincidences unite them, causing serious consequences of this connection.
The BBC made the documentary “The power of the 6 degrees of separation” where it talks about how understanding the functioning and characteristics of these networks can help human beings in aspects as different as epidemics, technological infrastructures (railway networks, electrical networks, etc.), or even life (cell functioning). For its part, Mike Rowe’s 6-chapter documentary “Six Degrees of Separation” demonstrates that everything is connected through a chain where each person knows another person and they end up connecting the entire human population.
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