Part I looked at how we might think of distance on the internet, working from the concept of physical distance applying its principles in a digital network.
It got as far as Google, but it ignored linking.
Arguably, the straight line of the internet is a hyperlink. It’s the shortest distance between two points. It’s the magic statement, “I wish to get there from here.”
Because a link represents essentially zero distance, once you have a link to something, you essentially have the thing itself. So the distance to the thing is how far away you are from a link to it, and this is why Google is a distance shortener.
This is why important sites are bigger; why they are closer to everything, because there are links to them everywhere. This is why they are more findable on Google, because Google itself examines the number of links to something in order to determine its importance.
Because Google’s PageRank algorithm depends on linking between sites, it does not define internet distance, but rather reflects it. You can find something on Google because it was closer to you than other things online. It was closer to you because it was heavily linked.
Just as Google ranking is a reflection of linking, linking itself is a reflection of something else.
Linking is a representation of relationship. A link exists because of some real world connection. It could be a thought or a discussion or friendship or a business relationship… But somehow a real connection of some sort was formed.
The point is, something happened in the real world, and a link was born.
So then…
Internet distance is a measure of relationship.
Think of two forums on the same special interest topic. They’re heavily interlinked, visited by the same people. Visitors failing to find an answer on one are referred to the other one.
They’re close.
A forum on another topic? It’s a world away, but it’s a world away not because of any physical barrier but because a lack of relationship.
The distance exists in people’s minds, in people’s hearts, in people’s intentions and interests.
The instant I care about something, it becomes far easier to find – it is closer. Once I know the name of something it is closer to me. If I speak the specific language of a subject, I can find things on it; it is closer.
Once technical issues are taken care of…
The only distance left is the distance between people.
2 Responses to "Distance on the Internet – Part II"
Anyone who suffers from RSI from clicking for hours and hours can tell you that a minimal distance is not zero distance, as
“a link represents essentially zero distance”
states.
Fair enough.
They’re probably the basic unit… “one click away”.
Really the basic unit has to be “one connection”. A link is not a terrific way to measure this, however, because real connections vary in depth and a link doesn’t reflect this.
Links can also rot – I should have stipulated that if you have a good link to something…