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.<sup>[1](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email)</sup>

It was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called "Chains." <sup>[2](http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/six-degrees-of-separation)</sup>

And what better way to study the world I intend to [***witness***](https://steemit.com/witness/@precise/steem-witness-proposal-i-am-precise-i-am-swift-i-am-human) (pun intended) than to evaluate this theory on the Steem Blockchain. 

![localhost_5000_map.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ8ncfYFBs8r1GXGraGVh9N7E4FVNoyoAD2Yt8myw3ziV/localhost_5000_map.png)
<sub>[***A graph of my followers***](https://steemit.com/@precise/followers)</sub>

It has been over a week already since I launched my [witness proposal](https://steemit.com/witness/@precise/steem-witness-proposal-i-am-precise-i-am-swift-i-am-human) 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](https://github.com/steemit/steem) - 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? (<sub>I don't necessarily mean they cannot be</sub>) 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. 

![localhost_5000_map 2.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZdPkWEQQkYYtQVGCztotCaf7aUTotqMh2TrnQSJV98hm/localhost_5000_map%202.png)

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](https://plot.ly/), [python-igraph](http://igraph.org/python/), and data pulled using [steem-python](https://github.com/steemit/steem-python)

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> I code with purpose. I am @precise.