The x Degrees of Livejournal

[pwndrew]

This is the challenge:

Devise a method through which you can discover how many degrees separate everyone on Livejournal. Whoever has the most cogent statistical analysis wins a prize.

Adeel is the judge, even though Adeel will probably also be the winner.

Comments

[eazy3]

Well, it's a funny thing. I think that everyone is actually connected, but friends lists aren't like that. There are a lot of "closed" networks to which you aren't connected, but that doesn't mean that you aren't connected via degrees. It just means that there were people who you knew or knew of but didn't take onto your friends list, which has very practical reasons behind it.

Six degrees means that there are four people in between you and someone else. I think that everyone at U of T is connected by four degrees or less since the opposite would be universally mutual acquaintance, which closed networks (read: loners) render impossible. I think that Livejournal is probably five, then, if we go by acquaintance (including knowing of someone) rather than friends lists.

[thatkatiegirl]

Do you have ANY idea what you're talking about? Because this sounds a little bit like well delivered bullscheisse.

[eazy3]

Wow Katie, why do you hate me so much? First you told us that Mr. Lowens was dead, and now this.

What I'm saying is that it's hard to measure separation on Livejournal. It would be done by friends lists, but friends lists are more exclusive than degrees of separation because there are people you know that aren't on your friends list.

There are also people who only have, say, five friends, and that group as a whole is, say, is composed of maybe 50 people without any friends on the "outside". They would throw a wrench into things.

[thatkatiegirl]

I hold no hate for you! I promise. The Mr Lowens bit was in my childhood days and I'm sorry! I guess I just don't get how on earth you could actually and positively ascertain the degrees that seperate everyone on LJ and consequently I think that all attempts are somewhat ridiculous.

[entershan]

Go back to grade 7 and draw a "concept map".

[dannydang]

Well first you'd have to define what an actual relationship between one person to another is. Say: leaving a comment on a person's LJ is enough. Then if you had access to LJ's master database, which I'm sure keeps track of all this crap, you could easily parse the data to find the connections necessary. Of course, like Adeel said, any of the newest or the private journals would be unconnected and therefore unreachable. Much like that only savage/aboriginal inhabited island somewhere in the Pacfic. It's impossible to 6 degrees to people that are completely isolated to outside connections.

But if you generalise, to say anyone in your bloodline is technically connected to you, than you can easily 6 degrees to anyone. It's all in the matter of defintion of your "connection".

[pwndrew]

All these parameters are part of the challenge. Define them yourself and create a study.

[entershan]

You asked the same question before about Wikipedia articles, I'm not sure why you're so fascinated by degrees of separation.