An Experimental Study of Search in Global Social Networks
Abstract
We report on a global social-search experiment in which more than 60,000 e-mail users attempted to reach one of 18 target persons in 13 countries by forwarding messages to acquaintances. We find that successful social search is conducted primarily through intermediate to weak strength ties, does not require highly connected “hubs” to succeed, and, in contrast to unsuccessful social search, disproportionately relies on professional relationships. By accounting for the attrition of message chains, we estimate that social searches can reach their targets in a median of five to seven steps, depending on the separation of source and target, although small variations in chain lengths and participation rates generate large differences in target reachability. We conclude that although global social networks are, in principle, searchable, actual success depends sensitively on individual incentives.
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This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Intel Corporation, and Office of Naval Research.
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Science
Volume 301 | Issue 5634
8 August 2003
8 August 2003
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American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 2 December 2002
Accepted: 23 May 2003
Published in print: 8 August 2003
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