It's not what you know, nor who you know, but how many you know

A very interesting, if a little long, look at the theory of “six degrees of separation”, with references to lots of interesting research.

It seems that, when finding a job at least, it’s quantity of links, rather than quality, that’s the important thing, so Gladwell suggests that the real difference between poor and middle-class kids isn’t the money they have access to, but the social networks.

“I hadn’t seen him since I was seven. We had zero in common. It was wonderful.” I like that, celebration of how people evolve when they lose touch, and not worrying about trying to be friends with everyone you’ve ever been friends with.

I wonder whether the study on why people become friends would find different results if re-ran today - does our increased ease in communication, and travel alter how our friendships are formed and maintained?