Re: "Email Updates Six Degrees Theory"

I know FOAF is not as widespread as perhaps needed for such studies, but 
using FOAF to study small world social networks has been bugging me for 
months, as well as netweork modelling using RDF in general.

Graham Klyne wrote:

> 
> A snippet for FOAFers...
> 
> # "Email Updates Six Degrees Theory"
> Technology Research News (09/03/03); Patch, Kimberly
> 
> Columbia University researchers have validated the small-world 
> phenomenon first discovered by Stanley Milgram's famous 1967 sociology 
> study, but have shown some of the associated hypotheses to be wrong. 
> Rather than starting letter chains aimed at finding a specific 
> individual, the Columbia researchers recruited 24,163 volunteers to send 
> emails to acquaintances who they thought might know the target or 
> someone close to that person; out of the 24,163 original chains, only 
> 384 reached the 18 target persons by way of 166 countries and a total of 
> 61,168 email messages. The researchers surveyed participants to find out 
> why they did or did not forward the email, and why they chose their 
> contact if they did forward it. The successful chains reached their 
> target in five to seven steps, on average, similar to Milgram's study; 
> but analysis of those successful chains showed participants chose 
> contacts based on geography and their field of work, not on their social 
> connectedness, as was hypothesized in Milgram's work. Cornell University 
> applied mathematics professor Stephen Strogatz says the study confirms 
> the basic tenet of a small-world model, but reveals methods that Milgram 
> did not have the resources to investigate. Other conclusions show that 
> more numerous, weak friendships are better for connectedness than close 
> friendships that are insular. Ohio State University sociology assistant 
> professor Jim Moody says the study will help understand widespread email 
> communication and the proliferation of viruses. Columbia research 
> scientist Peter Sheridan Dodds says a similar study is being designed 
> that will allow participants to send the message to more than one 
> contact and will ask more questions about their methods. He says the 
> research has implications for peer-to-peer networks and knowledgebases, 
> as well as social, pathological, and economic fields of study.
> Click Here to View Full Article
> http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2003/082703/Email_updates_six_degrees_theory_082703.html 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------
> Graham Klyne
> GK@NineByNine.org
> 
> 

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Received on Thursday, 18 September 2003 04:46:14 UTC