The theory of six degrees of separation contends that, because we are all linked by chains of acquaintance, you are just six introductions away from any other person on the planet.1
It was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called "Chains." 2
And what better way to study the world I intend to witness (pun intended) than to evaluate this theory on the Steem Blockchain.
It has been over a week already since I launched my witness proposal hand-in-hand with the @steemph community. The support was overwhelming and the energy to influence change was so high that a few beers and chips could not contain.
I had to take a step back, observe and ponder.
Do I know the world I live in?
I was trained to always have a situational awareness at all times and at all cost. I went back to the basics and read the Steem Whitepaper over and over again, re-check and re-evaluate the Steem blockchain codebase - making sure I understand every bits and pieces.
But I felt something is not adding up. It looks good on paper and the code but for instance, why is life and photography one of the most tagged? (I don't necessarily mean they cannot be) I just want to know why? Do the whales consume good content proportional to their voting power? Are the bots' existence (ie., auto-vote, auto-follow, etc) influence the quality of each content? These are just a few salient points I want to further investigate.
And I want to make it clear, I do not just set-up a server, write a post and say I am a witness. I may hit a wall or open up doors but I know it's worth sharing.
So enough with the bla bla and the woof woof ...
The Graph Theory
As cliche as it may be, the image below paints a thousand words. To create an abstraction of reality, I generated a Graph of the followers of my followers (with me represented by the blue circle in the middle).
Graph is a mathematical representation of a network and it describes the relationship between lines and points. A graph consists of some points and lines between them. The length of the lines and position of the points do not matter. Each object in a graph is called a node.
The nodes of this graph represent a Steem account (either a bot or a real human). The sizes of the nodes are determined by the Steem power of each account. Lines between nodes meant an account is a follower.
The beauty of Graph allows us to visualize, establish relationships and look at ourselves from outside the box. Here we can postulate theories to further validate our claims in a scientific and objective manner.
Can you see what I am seeing?
Hint: a black and it's a hole
Let me know your thoughts and let's investigate together. This is a work in progress.
Let us educate ourselves towards a better community...
Want to create your own graphs and know the world you live in?
Checkout this site: http://precise.tips:8888
Note: The site is in experimental mode and a preview of what's coming up. The nodes are limited up to the second level of influence (the followers of your followers).
The Graph was generated using plotly, python-igraph, and data pulled using steem-python
I code with purpose. I am @precise.
Wow, I'm interested on how you make those graphs. I've seen one like that from tumblr.com - in one of their lab features - they would show an interactive graph of people who reblog your post and stuff. Which looks pretty cool.
I was just experimenting on this using using plotly, python-igraph, and data pulled using steem-python. I can share you the code if you want just let me know in discord.
I have also made a web service of creating the graph here http://precise.tips:8888/ - you can input any steem account and wait a little bit to see the graph of your followers
That's cool of you, but I don't think I can use it. I can maybe use the codes to drown myself haha.
I will go ahead and try that website of yours.