Purpose of Social Networking
What does the "six degrees of separation" concept mean in social networking?
The concept of six degrees of separation concept basically implies that any and everything is six or fewer feet away. It applies to social networking given the notion of connecting with people. It’s amazing how many people an average person has in common with someone else. It’s important to always take heed to this concept due to the fact you never know who knows you or who is a friend of a friend.
Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that every individual is only 6 steps from every other individual. For example a person knows another person, who knows a person, who knows a person, etc. All individuals should be linked this way. In social networking you can see that a much larger community can be formed because of the associations each student has with others. This can result in a much more diverse community with a range of experience and ideas that come into play in the "classroom."
The six degrees of separation concept as applied to social networking means that through our own contacts, social circles and organizations we can probably come in contact with anyone on the planet with just a few steps in communication. Social networking sites offer community for large groups of people for virtually any topic or area of interest. When these people and groups are linked through the various websites, blogs and social networking groups offered via social networking, any person can potential be linked to any other person through the network of contacts.
Robin, I have found this to be true in my own experiences through Facebook or LinkedIn. It's amazing the potential for human contact that social networking offers. It only took me four steps to be in contact with the president of the US, for example.
I was in Malaysia on business in 2005 and I met a woman who had a cousin that lived with in 15 miles from my home. As it turned out I knew her cousin from the job I had at the time. If this can happen interpersonal imagine how many people we are connected with on the web.We are all students and teachers. The web and the six degree concept allows us to connect with other cultures and environments to enhance our learning experiences beyond our relm of thinking.
It simply means to be able to connect through your network of friends on FaceBook or Twitter or LinkedIn, or what have you. For example, I was recently able to connect with a childhood friend in Barbados because of a social network connection.I grew up there, and from that one connection in Barbados, I was able to further connect to all of my elementary and middle school friends from the islands. I never thought I would see them again; but I now interact with them daily. All because of one social network connection.
Tonya,
Great post! We really have to teach students that the world is a much smaller place with social media and it is amazing who knows whom.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Robin ,
I love your post!!!! You make such a great point about the diversity that social media has provided to us.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joseph,
You are right. The power in this media cannot be underestimated as a professional and educational tool. Great post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joseph,
Wow!!! Linkedin is now is becoming an important professional tool. We need to educate ours students about it power; and it is powerful as you have demonstrated.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Doni,
What a great story. I too, have run into people who share common friends. You make a great point that we do have the six degree concept and it provides such great opportunity.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Stacie,
That is so cool. Can you see the cool factor as it could be used in Education?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I struggle with this concept myself. I have had many people contact me via LinkedIn, wanting to be connected, and I have no idea who they are. I understand that they may be connected with someone I know, but it seems awkward to me that they would then reach out to contact me without any type of introduction. It seems like LinkedIn is becoming more like a Facebook page, where everyone is trying to boost the number of connections they have, rather than an opportunity to network with other professionals.
What do you all think?
Rebecca,
I do have several "rules" that I have set for myself. LinkedIn, I only use for professional contacts, which is the products intention. Facebook I do use regularly and I don't put anything on there that may make others uncomfortable. I will not depend on the blocks that seem to change in Facebook to secure my site.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The 'six degrees of separation' really fits in with globalization and other benefits of the Internet. Recently I updated my info on Linked-In and as a result got back in touch with an old French teacher of mine who lives in Togo and an old grad school classmate from Denmark.
Dennis,
It is so strange, I too have met someone in an online course that we knew the same people. It is so important that students of all ages understand that power!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly
I agree social networking seems to shrink the size of the planet we are on and opening up people to a variety of other cultures is always good, in my humble opinion.
Cheers, Dennis
Dennis,
It is a good thing, and it provides students that are isolated (and there are many) to become engaged with someone with different experiences than them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yes, I agree that linkedIn should be reserved for professional contacts and interaction. one way to optimize this function is to belong to any of the groups within the profession.
