What do you think the worldwide social network looks like?

One of the tools used by anthropologists studying small groups is to ask everyone who they associate with and then use some mathematics to determine the various social networks. Even in a small group the results can be rather interesting.

It will never happen for quite a number of reasons, but suppose the same thing were done nationwide or worldwide. What kinds of patterns would turn up? How strongly are social networks influenced by geography, income, education, occupation,religion, ethnicity and race?

I would guess that geography is a big factor, though not as much as in tribal societies. If Internet associations are factored in, geography would be somewhat less of a factor.

I am certain income would be a factor. I would be curious to know if the income factor is uniform or if there are noticeable islands of contact. My hunch is that the very rich and the very poor are strongly isolated from everyone else.

I think race would be a factor, even after filtering out income, but that it would be less of a factor than it used to be.

Sometimes I get the feeling that we live in rather tight networks. For example, it is not all that unusual to meet someone and discover that you have a mutual acquaintance.