Degrees
Am I overthinking the oddness of this?
While looking up the correct spelling of 'merengue' for my Fun Facts About Kim Jong Il post, I came across the blog of Marin Guy in California. He proved to be a talented and expressive writer, not to mention far cooler than me, and once I'd read a few posts and burned off a few kilos of jealousy, I wondered if any of his links were worth reading too. I clicked on the first one; Internal Monoblog. Looking through her links, I noticed Pink Lemonade Diva. I recognised the name, but I couldn't remember from where, so I clicked on it. In her blogroll I found Digital Retrograde, which is written by my Minnesotan blogbuddy Eric.
So, from the randomly encountered Marin Guy to Internal Monoblog to Pink Lemonade Diva to Digital Retrograde to Get on the Blandwagon! - I think that constitutes four degrees of separation. Out of the millions of blogs in the world, what are the chances of my randomly surfing onto one with links that would lead me back to myself in four easy steps?
While looking up the correct spelling of 'merengue' for my Fun Facts About Kim Jong Il post, I came across the blog of Marin Guy in California. He proved to be a talented and expressive writer, not to mention far cooler than me, and once I'd read a few posts and burned off a few kilos of jealousy, I wondered if any of his links were worth reading too. I clicked on the first one; Internal Monoblog. Looking through her links, I noticed Pink Lemonade Diva. I recognised the name, but I couldn't remember from where, so I clicked on it. In her blogroll I found Digital Retrograde, which is written by my Minnesotan blogbuddy Eric.
So, from the randomly encountered Marin Guy to Internal Monoblog to Pink Lemonade Diva to Digital Retrograde to Get on the Blandwagon! - I think that constitutes four degrees of separation. Out of the millions of blogs in the world, what are the chances of my randomly surfing onto one with links that would lead me back to myself in four easy steps?
posted by Blandwagon at 6:16 PM
9 Comments:
It feels like an odd circumstance but I'll bet it's more common than you think... in fact I bet you that could be a new game. Use a blog search to find a random blog and find the least number of clicks it would take to get back to your own blog.
But back to it being more common than you think - I'm pretty sure this has to do with how societies are worked... it's why 6 degrees of separation works IRL... and how travel to the other side of the planet just to meet someone who lives down the street from you (but who you'd never bumped into until now)
There are innumerable links.
You can work out approximately what fraction of the links in the blogosphere are to yours with technorati.
I would suggest a further experiment... Find a site on your blogroll which doesn't link back and systematically visit the links to see how much more likely to be linked to two or five degrees of separation away. Not that it's anything I would undertake myself.
I was intrigued by your claim that MarinGuy is cooler than you, so I went to his sight and did a little reading. Umm, he is NOT cooler than you. Other than your occasional need to make lengthy analyses about Mystery Science Theatre episodes, I would have to say that your writing is better and you seem more interesting. I.e., I am thinking that you may be cooler than he. And don't forget it!
1 in 32,678.
Trust me, I counted.
Why is that Marin guy feeding ostriches?
Caught a few visitors from your site, so came over to check it out. I'm very intrigued by blog connections - but more about who's reading who and what links do I have in common with a blog i'm visiting for the first time. (I see two on yours and I suspect we're connected through Crazying Up the Bottle) Your story of connection is much cooler - 1/2way around the world no less! Also, I like John Angliss' idea.
I am thinking that you may be cooler than he.
Ah, the pretense is working! One down, 5,999,999,999 to go!
LOL, thats pretty awesome :D Maybe you should try using technorati to track people who link to you? :)
Hey bud! maringuy here - I had typed 'hey mate' but I think it's pretentious to use an Ozzie term just because you're writing from Perth. Like people who overly accentuate Spanish words when they order a burrito. I hate that. Anyway, cool story! I was testing the new ask.com, typed in 'maringuy' and saw your blog. Now I'm gonna read the hell out of it every chance I get.
Take it easy...and keep reading.
Laters,
maringuy
PS - anyone with an accent is undoubtedly cooler than I am. And to answer Eric's question...they looked hungry?
Welcome, maringuy... and thanks for not doing the "Hey mate" thing! Trust me, that wouldn't have earned you any friends - we Australians are very possessive about our slang.
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