"Six degrees of separation" is the theory that everyone and everything is a few steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps (Wikipedia)
In 1967, American sociologist Stanley Milgram randomly selected people in the mid-West to send packages to a stranger located in Massachusetts. The senders knew the recipient's name, occupation, and general location. They were instructed to send the package to a person they knew on a first-name basis who they thought was most likely, out of all their friends, to know the target personally. That person would do the same, and so on, until the package was personally delivered to its target recipient. Although the participants expected the chain to include at least a hundred intermediaries, it only took (on average) between five and seven intermediaries to get each package delivered. Milgram's findings were published in Psychology Today and inspired the phrase "six degrees of separation." (www.WhatIs.com)
Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) are based on this theory.
So I've been shopping for a guitarist on Facebook.
About two years ago, I joined a Facebook group called Bossa Nova Fans. Soon after, I received a "Friend" invitation from the group founder. Bogdan's profile indicated he was a guitarist in Rio de Janeiro. I accepted his friend request.
Since then, I've listened to his YouTube videos and looked and commented on at his photos of Brazil. I've messaged him asking if he has sheet music for a song I can't find. He replied, sending me the link I needed.
Bogdan is the modern equivalent of a pen pal. And although I'm only one of 5000 Facebook friends, I message him to tell him of my plans for a concert in Rio, and asking if he would be interested in playing for me. Within the day he has replied. He says the music I want to sing is not really his thing, but he can recommend another guitarist, Eneais, who is very good.
He suggests I watch Eneais' videos on YouTube. I do, and I like what I see and hear. Eneais plays very well, and also sings well. He appears to have a sense of humour. The only potential issue is that he does not actually live in Rio. I need to look at a map to see how far away he is.
I send Eneais a friend request, explaining that Bogdan has recommended him. He immediately accepts, and says he is delighted to hear of my plan. I send him two of my YouTube videos; the closing piece of my recent Cabaret Summer School performance, and a piece from last year. Instead of choosing the piece with the best singing, I send him the clip that reveals a bit of my personality - the one with the "wardrobe malfunction", where my earring falls out, I declare that I am not taking anything else off, and I fling the earring into the audience. There is laughter from the audience on both videos.
Eneais writes to say he plays a lot of music by Jobim, and asks me to send my repertoire for him to consider.
I've found a guitarist. Could it really be as easy as that?
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