Six degrees: A friend of a friend

Psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a landmark experiment at Harvard University in the 1960s that looked at the “small world” phenomenon. Using snail mail correspondence, Milgram asked his study participants to forward an information packet about the study to the person they knew---who was mostly likely to know the person ultimately targeted to receive the correspondence...

Although the majority of the mailings never reached their destination, among those that did, the average length of the social path from the first person to the target recipient was 5.5 or 6 people. Based on this research, others later coined this phenomenon the “six degrees of separation” between people. More recently, Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell talked about the “funneling” concept---that some people are “connectors” with large networks of social contacts.

One very practical take-home message from this research: When you are in a classroom or at cocktail party, conference or other social event where you don’t know anyone, it’s always fun to play the strategic game of figuring out who or what you have in common. Anyone can become a “connector” and with any degree of luck, you may be able to strike up a new friendship based on shared history, values, interests, or friendships.