DISQUS

Broadcasting Brain: Hyperconnectivity shakes up six degrees of separation

  • Sharon Hurley Hall · 1 year ago
    I'll be interested to see where this goes, Mark. It's interesting that as we become more connected we hook up with the same people across different networks, although I would have thought that this reinforces the six degrees of separation.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    Sharon, on the surface you would think that more interconnections might reduce the six degrees of separation, but we'll see. :)
  • Michael Martine · 1 year ago
    I don't think any particular communication method alters the 6 degrees phenomenon, but I enjoyed the different types.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    I'll try to address your point in the next post, Michael.
  • Liz Strauss · 1 year ago
    Social media has definitely connected me to people with whom I'd have had to jump many other stones to even get a chance to meet. Oh yeah.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    Bingo. I think that's the essence of what I'm trying to get at and which I need to elaborate on some more.
  • calebelston · 1 year ago
    I know that unlike the phone and mail and other type 0 methods, the use of Twitter and FriendFeed and blogging accelerates the rate of connections made. In the past month or so I have connected with more people than I did all last year via these methods. It is easier to get into the 'groups' of users since you can all speak to each other.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    Social media services can both accelerate the rate of connections as well as the total number of connections compared to older methods. Groups of users is an excellent point. However, there's still a quality and true connectedness experience that needs to be factored in.
  • calebelston · 1 year ago
    I agree completely that calling someone on the phone implies a higher level of connectedness (hopefully), but being able to engage in conversations that require less social capital, such as a quick DM question on Twitter help to build stronger relationships.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    We should never overlook the importance of helping other people.
  • Chris Brogan... · 1 year ago
    I don't disagree with the overall concept. I think the graphics confuse me a bit. When I think of hyperconnected, I think of hyperconnectivity as a skillset/practice more than a state of being. I opt to be this connected. My mindset is that I've set up listening posts, an ability to respond rapidly (or as close as I can), and an interest in performing those functions.

    I think there are shades of hyperconnectivity: Scoble is a great communicator on Friendfeed, but he's ALSO a super great information absorber/parser. I parse information, but only pass through a small set. Robert passes through volumes.

    There's something here, but it merits more conversations and more shades of understanding. Thanks for starting the process.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 year ago
    I hope to elaborate on all of this in the next post. I should have put more description behind the graphics, but hopefully I can bring that around next post.

    Fair point: the term "hyperconnected" can have some nuances to it.