When we were discussing the small world phenomenon in class,
all I could think about was how I had no way to get myself to anyone famous
through my network. Most people have met someone famous or at least know
someone who knows someone famous, but I have could not find anyone in my
network that got me to a celebrity. I didn’t even think that the six degrees of
separation applied to me when it came to connecting to a famous person, but
over the course of the last week, I found out that I am more closely connected
to a few celebrities than I thought.
My mom’s best friend from childhood was in town this past
weekend, so the three of us went out to lunch. I have known this woman my
entire life, but never really knew what she did; all I ever knew was that she
travelled a lot. Turns out, she is an event planner at Microsoft Inc. and is in
charge of setting up interview panels with influential people in society. Right
now, she is in contact with Oprah Winfrey, Ryan Seacrest, and Warren Buffet
trying to get one of them to agree to an interview. So all this time, I have
been three hops away from who knows how many celebrities and never knew it. Also,
my mom just found out that one of her friends from work lives with a pilot who
has flown the private jet of George Clooney on multiple occasions.
So while I would never actively utilize these connections,
it is kind of cool to see just how connected everyone is, even if we don’t
recognize it. I was so focused on looking at my strong ties to search for a
path to a celebrity that I forgot about one of the most important aspects of
social networks: the strength of weak ties.
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