Six degrees of separation refers to the number of “steps†whereby everyone is “connected†to each person on Earth. This small world phenomenon is applied in the well known trivial game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon†where the object of the game is to try and connect any actor to Kevin Bacon as quickly and in as few links as possible.
A student researcher, Stephen Dolan at Trinity College Dublin has now come up with software that can let users find out the number of clicks through Wikipedia which links two articles. For example, it takes three clicks to go from Trend to Hunting - through Market trends and Bear.
Interestingly, Dolan used his software to discover which Wikipedia article is the center where most articles go through. In the trivial game, Kevin Bacon is the predetermined hub. Well, the article closest to the centre of Wikipedia turns out to be “United Kingdom†and not Walmart where some claim to be the center of the Universe.
Social Connection Games
Six Degrees of Wikipedia
Trend Themes
1. Six Degrees of Separation - Opportunity for developing social connection games that utilize the concept of six degrees of separation to create interactive and engaging experiences.
2. Social Network Analysis - Opportunity for leveraging social network analysis to understand and visualize connections between individuals or entities, such as using Wikipedia's links to identify the shortest path between articles.
3. Gamification - Opportunity for incorporating gamification elements into educational platforms or websites, such as using software that calculates the number of clicks between articles on Wikipedia.
Industry Implications
1. Gaming - Disruptive innovation opportunity for developing social connection games that can be played online or as mobile applications.
2. Data Analytics - Disruptive innovation opportunity for companies specializing in social network analysis to provide insights and tools for understanding complex relationships and networks.
3. Education Technology - Disruptive innovation opportunity for education technology companies to incorporate gamification elements into their platforms, enhancing user engagement and learning outcomes.