bp's science: social science and 5 degrees (v.1)

Back in February of 2008, I mentioned on this blog that I thought the famed "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" was most probably the 5 degrees of Kevin Bacon in terms of the internet world and how we are all connected. Turns out, they've tested this theory and that estimate was about right. According to research done by Facebook and the University of Milan, the connection we create from linking can get to just about anyone in 4.74 degrees. In countries where lots of people are on the internet, the United States for example, the degree of connection is 4.37. So we're just about skipping 5 degrees altogether because we're getting nearer to 4 degrees by the minute.