The power of network theory lies in its high degree of abstraction, and, when exploring the impact of the web at scale, it is useful to assess this entity as more than a series of web pages that link together. In order to explore the relationships certain web pages, have with one another, we can call upon graph theory, a branch of mathematics that represent nodes (web pages) that are connected by vertices (links), and the relations between them (Otte & Rousseau, 2002). The idea of implementing graph theory corresponds with the concept of ‘The Small World Network’, the notion that there are six degrees of separation, or six connections, separating all people. This logic is often applied to the Web as most pages, although not closely related to one another, can be reached by a small number of hops through the network (Scott, 2017).
Written by Ashton Kingdon
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Otte, E & Rousseau, R. 2002. Social Network Analysis: A Powerful Strategy also for Information Sciences. Journal of Information Science. [Online]. 28(1), 441-452. [27 March 2018]. Available from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/42254790/Social_Network_Analysis_A_Powerful_Strat20160206-25456-1pc1lcl.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1522143684&Signature=xeHhTpT6py7pPdZnrK5AjmphDs8%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DSocial_network_analysis_a_powerful_strat.pdf.
Scott, J .2017. Social Network Analysis. (4th ed.). London: Sage Publications Ltd.
