Numbers

Six Degrees of Separation

"Six degrees of separation" is the theory that everyone on earth is connected to everyone else through no more than six relationships, i.e. a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend.

The name also became the basis for a play of the same name, "Six Degrees of Separation," by John Guare, and later a movie that starred Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Ian McKellan, and Stockard Channing, who originated her role on Broadway and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her film performance.  Both explore the strange interconnectedness that we have with others and often encounter to our surprise.

Six degrees of separation also became the basis of a trivia game called "Six Degree of Kevin Bacon," in which players try link in no more than six steps actors and actress through the roles they have played to roles played by Kevin Bacon.

How It's Used

“Now come Tribe and LinkedIn, sites started last summer, whose owners paid $700,000 in September to YouthStream Media Networks for United States patent No. 6,175,831, also known as the 'six degrees patent,' which they consider the seminal social networking patent. It covers an online software platform that allows users to build relationship networks. Andrew Katz, a lawyer with Fox Rothschild who specializes in Internet intellectual property deals, said, 'This is probably the pioneer patent out there.' Mr. Katz, who said he had no financial interest in either Tribe or LinkedIn, added, 'It should be taken very seriously by everybody in the industry because it is in the hands of people who have the means and the business acumen to enforce it properly.’”

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