Travel Trends – Social Networking

Kevin Bacon was in Footloose with...

Social Networking – Two articles on the power and (still) lack of knowledge about social networking.  First, TechCrunch discusses a new study from European Mobile carrier O2, that the old six degrees of separation thought has been reduced to three thanks to the social networking capabilities of the internet.  Only 3, finally I can win that damn 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon game!  Anyway, the article says:

According to the study, the average person is now connected by just three degrees within a shared “interest” or social group instead of six. In fact, it found that people are usually a part of three main networks: family, friendship, and work.

It should be noted that the research is not the epitome of a real scientific study—O2 paid for it, after all. And anyone who has a LinkedIn account knows that it is still easy to find plenty of people who are more than three degrees away from you. But the study does underscore something we all know:more so than ever before, everyone is connected (even if it is only tangentially).
http://www.techcrunch.com/

On the other hand, another study from Synovate via eMarketer (as you are reading these, I am sure you know that most of these studies are produced to highlight the research company, right?  Okay, good.) claims that only 42% of consumers know what social networking is.

That stat will bring you back down to earth.  The next time you are in a meeting and someone says ‘everyone is on MySpace’…ah, not so fast my friend…check the chart.

Plus, it appears that some people just don’t like you or your friends:

Synovate also asked adult consumers if they were losing interest in online social networking. Overall, 36% of social network users said yes, led by those in Japan (55%), Slovakia (48%), Canada (47%), Poland and the US (45% each). Social networkers in Indonesia and France were the least likely to be losing interest, at only 18% and 21%, respectively.

And you thought you had social networking all figured out.
http://www.emarketer.com/