Why are networks so important? Rheingold points out that they are not only prevalent when it comes to social media, but they are really the cornerstone of all relationships. He mentions John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation” and it points out that everyone is connected somehow to any random person in the world by only six people. A pretty amazing concept, right? My favorite six degrees of separation is that rumor that everyone is only separated by 6 people from Kevin Bacon. I mean, who doesn’t love Kevin Bacon, right? Footloose! Anyways, it was a random technique, that happened to be pretty effective in getting people to realize and think about connections and networkings. And the way I see it, in today’s world with social media, six degrees of separation is first off, a lot easier to maneuver through and connect with them, say, 20 years ago. And secondly, it’s almost obsolete. With websites like Facebook and LinkedIn, we can easily cut the six degrees of separation, easily, to 2 or 3 and be immediately intertwined with these people and their personal social networks.
Rheingold then goes on to talk about the ways in which we connect and interact with others without even knowing it. When we post a blog entry or read an article on something, those who read it are automatically webbed into numerous different networks. Those with the person who posted or commented on something, and then those related with the topic or interest the post is mentioned under, and so many more.
How do we really do that though? Is there a bigger picture that allows us to communicate without even knowing it? In the words of Governor Sarah Palin, “you betcha!” When we post something online, it’s meant to speak to those that follow us, but it would be naive of us to think that those are the only people who are going to see it. Our opinions are on a constant cycle once they hit the wonderful world wide web. Good, bad, or indifferent, we are communicating with people we’ve never met, and will most likely never meet. Awesome and scary all at the same time! I find it intriguing that I may be changing someone’s opinion on something just because I decided one day I was going to take to my blog and express my viewpoints on something. Crazy.
So, long story short: this whole networking thing has been around for quite some time, and Rheingold, again, seamlessly makes the connection to things, in this case, networking, that we had already been participating in before social media and technology became the forefront of our current world. Networking: it’s what makes the world go ’round.
