The Law of Thin Numbers

7/25/2019 The Law of Thin Numbers

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The Law of Thin NumbersAnd Its Signicance in Eective BusinessNetworking

ThinNumbers is an organization, that unlike most social networking entities, creates

relationships that are genuine, helpful, and personal. Dedicated to facilitating the

development of individual business associations that are global in scope, ThinNumbers is

a virtual "chamber of commerce," built for the Connected Age. Conceived and

developed using scientific theor, ThinNumbers utilizes mathematics, pscholog, and

sociolog to create an organization that is both uni!ue and effective. ere, associates

share connections, knowledge, and information in order to further the capabilities of all.

Executive Summary

We are born networking. Our first networking experience came with us hanging by our

heels and a doctors hand giving us a sharp pat on a bare behind. In this instance, we cried out

and announced emphatically that we had arrived, were a little bewildered, and would like some

attention as soon as possible.

We continue to network for the rest of our lives. Of course, weve all heard the

expression its not what you know, its who you know and we held this as gospel. !ut, as it

turns out, the saying is only half right " its not #ust what you know or who you know$ it might

be what or who the person you know knows. %hats the key aspect of networking and its

especially true with the expansion of the virtual world, where time and space is rendered

meaningless.

!usiness networking typically falls into two extremes. &s a participant, you either

network with people you know or you are an open networker. In the former, you use the

networking site like a constantly updating little black book. 'or this type of person, networking

is a closed society and your ability to grow and meet new people is dependent on your actual

geography and physical presence. %he disadvantage to this techni(ue is that you lose the whole

advantage of networking virtuality. )ou have to be actually present to win.

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%he latter, open networking, means that youll interface with anyone at all. While this

obviously increases your scope of contacts, the relationships tend to be superficial, if even that,

because you are connected to complete strangers. %hese are un*relationships. Its almost like

you are networking for networkings sake, as if networking was a giant scoreboard and collecting

contacts means you are running up the score. )et, you can never win because the contacts you

have or simply numbers, no more and no less.

What is needed to accomplish effective business networking is something in between that

takes advantage of the closed or open networking techni(ue. +uch would be a place where one

can take advantage of the vast virtual world yet have a genuine bond with the people that you are

networked with. Wouldnt it be great to have a vast array of contacts and every one truly

connected to you

!ut how can we accomplish this -urrent business networking and collaboration sites

are valuable but inherently flawed. %he basic institution is scientifically flawed and the

connections that you accomplish on these sites lack validity. The purpose of ThinNumbers isto build a foundation for broad business networking where the relationships might be

virtual yet they are truly and genuinely real.

%his paper details this challenge and hopefully points to a way that you and I are going to

solve it.

Introduction

inkedIn, 'acebook, %witter, /oogle0 and other social media outlets have proven theworld is a mighty small place. We can now build relationships virtually and continuously " the

rules of time and space are no longer binding. 1owever, while it is true that we can reach

anyone, anywhere in our virtual existence, the affiliations that we are building are largely

superficial and for the most part, have little value. We really never know the people we are

linked to and they never really know us.

The Science of Social Networking

2any people dont reali3e but there is a great deal of science behind the dynamic of

social networking. Of course, that should be no real surprise because the study of the

functioning of society is a science in and of itself 4called sociology5. %he following is a

sample of theories upon which social networking is founded. In addition, presented to are

contending scientific principles where current social and business networking websites either fall

short or fail to consider at all.

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I. Separation Theory

!usiness*focused, social networking sites in the virtual world are loosely based on

separation theory, a concept derived by 1arvard professor +tanley 2ilgrams 6789

small world experiment. %he intent of this study was to determine the

interconnectedness of people throughout the :nited +tates. 2ilgram utili3ed a mailed

package. %his package began in the hands of a starter who was simply a person chosen

at random to participate in the study. %he starters #ob, if they chose to participate, was to

direct this package toward a specific destination person, who, as far as 2ilgram knew,

was a complete stranger to the starter. %here was a caveat " in their effort to deliver the

package, the starter could only forward same to intermediaries who they actually knew on

a first*name basis.

%o help the package along on its #ourney, the starter was left to devise their own method

to forward the package on toward the destination. 2ost used the destination persons

geographic location to help guide them. %he packages were tracked with postcards to

determine how many intermediate ac(uaintances it took to complete the #ourney.

2ilgram discovered the median number of transfers that the package went through from

starter to destination was five and a half or six. %hus the experiments conclusion was

that anyone could make contact with any other person utili3ing their own six degrees of

separation 4which became a popular parlor game " +ix ;egrees of ??@, an updated small world experiment was conducted by 2icrosoft. %his tested

electronic mail as opposed to physically mailed packages. %he conclusion of the study

showed that the average chain of contacts, from starter to destination 4all users of the

2icrosoft 2essenger +ervice5 was 8.8 people. %hough the technology was different, the

test confirmed that the six degree phenomenon present in separation theory applied to

electronic media as well.

While it is wonder that we can seemingly connect ourselves to practically anyone else onthe planet via a short chain of individuals, one fact overlooked in this small world

concept as applied to business networking is that in 2ilgrams experiment, nearly @?A of

the packages never reached the destination. %hus, one could conclude that separation

theory is hardly an efficient or reliable foundation for business networking. 4Imagine the

uproar if only >?A of your letter handled by the :. +. 2ail were actually delivered5.

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II. The Law of the Few

In his book %he %ipping Boint, 2alcolm /ladwell amended the six degree phenomenon

with the concept of information funneling which he encapsulates in %he aw of %he

'ew. /ladwell proved that this chain of connections in separation theory is dependenton a few extraordinary people which /ladwell called connectors, mavens, and

salesmen.

-onnectors facilitate the nascent link between various individuals by their habit of

making introductions into the large group of people that they know. 2avens are

information specialists. /ladwell contends that we rely upon C2avensD to connect us

with new information who beyond being knowledgeable, also freely dispense such

knowledge. 'inally, +alesmen are people who have an indefinable trait that goes

beyond what they say which makes people want to agree with them. +o, it might not be

#ust who you know, but what kind of person you know is.

Indeed, the /ladwells funnel idea could easily be applied is applied to 2ilgrams small

world experiment. In a supplemental networking experiment, 2ilgram tracked 68?

packages originally mailed to starters. +urprisingly, the return path of the packages was

not evenly distributed. Of the >E that reached the target person, a surprising 68 of that

number was randomly funneled through one individual. 4=ote again, that the all that

package mailing only had a 6FA success rate of reaching the target5. In other words, a

ma#ority of the packages that went from starter to destination went through #ust one

person who in very real respects, was a funnel for the package transfer.

%hus, present in any chain of people that we might depend on for business contacts and

knowledge are people who are naturally connected to other people or who are

compelled to connect us to new information. %hese people funnel both other people and

other information. %he challenge is how to find these people who are such a rare

commodity.

III. Expetany Theory

It is an unfortunate and simple truth that most people do not tend to voluntarily help

strangers. %his is especially true when it comes to business relationships. -onsider what

I call the stranger introduction re(uest. )oure at a party when a perfect stranger comes

up to you and having seen you conversing with another particular party goer, asks if you

would make an introduction to that person. Would you make such an introduction %he

answer is probably no, at least not without some (ualification.

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+imilarly, the expectation of receiving assistance in a social network by someone who is,

in the literal sense, a stranger yet who is virtually linked to you via the network is (uite

limited. %here are explicit psychological reasons why this is trueG 4a5 the discomfort of

being among strangers$ 4b5 the desire not to burden those who trust us with some matter

that is not pleasant or beneficial$ andHor 4c5 there is no personal motivation for us to

perform the action 4and thus overcome all of the negatives involved5.

It is this last reason upon which expectancy theory is founded. &ccording to

expectancy theory, a person will decide to behave or act in a certain way because they are

motivated by their own personal 4and perhaps selfish5 desirability of the outcome of their

actions. In the above scenario, it could be that we might not wish to impose upon

someone who we know beholds us as a confidant. %hen again, it could be that, as

suggested, there is simply no upside for us to do the stranger a favor.

+alespeople are generally familiar with expectancy theory because they are taught that

prospects will not make a buying decision until you discover what the particular benefit

would be for them to ac(uire your product or service. %he acronym, WII'2 or

Whats In It 'or 2e is commonly used to describe this relationship. 4Of note, I coined

the acronym WII'2 while teaching at the &%% =ational %raining -enter, &urora, -O in

67@E. I was tasked with developing and delivering a new sales training curriculum and

derived the theory from concepts presented in the 6799 book ooking Out for =umber

One, by Jobert K. Jinger5. Brospects make a buying decision when the salesperson helps

the buyer discover inherent value in the proposed product or service. When this is done,

the buyer is highly motivated because expectancy theory is being served. %hus, the

bottom line of the WII'2 concept is that people will generally act according to what

outcome is best for them personally.

2any miss the point of expectancy theory when it comes to business networking. +ome

social networking participants automatically and blatantly market their products and

services to strangers who are unlucky enough to open network with them. In this

instance, because you have merely connected to them, you have automatically become a

suspect their product or service. Of course, you might not fit as a (ualified prospect for

such an offering but no matter " theyre goal is to sell you something and away they goL

=ot only is such an act inconsistent with expectancy theory but it is also contra to the

most effective sales techni(ue 4i.e. solution selling5, where one is tasked with discoveringthe WII'2 of the prospective customer.

'urthermore, this general broadcast of look at me and see what Im selling does not

#ibe with %he aw of the 'ew. -ertainly not everyone to whom a person is virtually and

blindly distributing information to is a free connector or a maven. Indeed, most of the

victims of such unwelcome spam are probably outside what is the usual target market for

such products or services. & rational person would understand that blindly marketing to a

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host of un(ualified suspects is largely a waste of time. &s in the case of the stranger

introduction re(uest, there is certain sense that the stranger is not only minimi3ing you,

but being disrespectful as well.

&s in 2ilgrams experiment, if the package is being passed from person to person and

you are simply a conduit, are you really willing to pass the package along In the smallworld experiment, the high failure rate suggests that many people evidently were not so

willing.

I!. "unbar Number

In 677>, !ritish anthropologist Jobin ;unbar suggested that there was a cognitive limit

to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships, that is

relationships in which an individual knows each person and how each person relates to

every other person. %he so*called ;unbar number was proposed to lie between 6??and >M? people, with 6F? individuals being the most commonly used value. 1istorically,

in the hunterHgatherer epoch, villages tended to split up 4and in the current age,

neighborhoods lose cohesiveness5 when they approached the ;unbar number.

%heoretically then, ;unbar acts as kind of speed limit in the building and maintaining

real relationships.

&s you read the information above regarding ;unbars number, you might have paused

and thought that such was pure folly. &fter all, you have hundreds, if not thousands of

friends on social networking sites like 'acebook. )et, ;unbars number even applies to

the virtual world.

&n article in the 2arch >, >?6> edition of Wired maga3ine tested the ;unbars

applicability to todays social networking. %he author, Jick aw, tested in the theory in

his article ;unbars =umber ,??? friends in 'acebook and admittedly didnt interact

with them personally, they were still a part of a valid relationship. %o prove it, aw

decided to write them a personal note. :pon working his way through approximately

half of his 'acebook list, the total lack of responses proved that ;unbars hypothesis

applied even in the -onnected &ge. aw came to the conclusion that even if you set

aside a chunk of your life specifically to broaden your social capital, you can onlymaintain so many friendships. &nd so many is fewer than >??.

inkedIn itself offers contradictions in networking. On the one hand, the site urges users

to link only to people you know yet on the other hand, scores users based on how

many contacts they have 4up to F??5, while automatically searching your email for

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contacts to link to. 4%his is a contradiction because does anyone actually know every

person from which theyve received an email5

!. Soial Networking Theory # Strong Ties and $eak Ties

Nven though the development of the theory behind ;unbars =umber is anthropologically

significant, there is a contention that it doesnt apply to social networking. 2orten

1ansens >??7 book, -ollaboration, stakes a claim that social networks real value is its

building of weak ties, or our connection to people we are scarcely ac(uainted with.

&ccording to 1ansen, strong ties tend to be worlds we already know, or our real*life

friends. In contrast, the relationships fostered by social networking, weak ties,

represent people we dont interface very often. %hese are people that one might talk to

once a month as opposed to once a week for strong ties. %hus, according to 1ansen,

what social networking sites gives us is a connection to people we ordinarily would have

no connection with at all. 1ansens study goes on to detail the benefits of weak ties as hemakes his case for their importance.

!ut while 1ansens study seemingly refutes the relationship limitation established by the

;unbar =umber, the contra could be argued. In fact, the weak ties theory does not begin

to contradict ;unbars definition of relationships as stable social relationships where I

know who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. %hus while

argument that social networking allows one to foster weak ties might be true, it is

inapplicable to ;unbar because the principles are not referring to the same thing.

%he theory of the value of weak ties is not a new one. ;r. 2ark /ranovetter of 1arvardpresented his dissertation on the sub#ect of weak ties in 679?. In that study, weak ties

were found to be an important resource in finding a #ob. In /ranovetters study, when

individuals who found a #ob through personal contacts were asked whether a friend had

told them about their new #ob, the most fre(uent answer was not a friend, an

ac(uaintance. %hus, it was weak tie that led them to employment, not a strong tie.

%here is no arguing that any relationship is better than no relationship at all. -ertainly,

Brofessor +arah Kacks 4ancaster :niversity, :??F studyG %he Jole, :se and &ctivation

of +trong and Weak =etwork %iesG & uantitative &nalysis. &ccording to Kacks, theeffectiveness of a business network depends on strong and weak ties, both of which have

a significant impact. 1owever, Kacks paper concluded that it is strong ties that act as

the primary means of gaining knowledge and resources, not to mention are used to link

into a wider social context, in other words, a friend of a friend. %he fact is that the

real effectiveness of a network is dependent on strong ties, some of which can be dormant

for some time and later reactivated. +o Kacks took /ranovetters employment

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conclusion to the next stepG an ac(uaintance, or weak tie, might have helped one find a

#ob, but a strong tie led directly to the weak tie in the first place.

Brofessor Kacks also points out that networking is a time consuming, dynamic process of

identifying common interest, gaining knowledge and experience of other individuals and

building trust. 6

!I. It%s &lways 'een a (atter of Trust

%here is an old saying that trust takes years to build, seconds to destroy, and forever to

repair. Nvery successful relationship, whether personal or business, depends on trust.

In business, we hedge our trusting relations by signing contracts. 1owever, the law is but

a necessary backstop, placed there to take care of any wrongdoing. !ut do you really

want to go to court on every contract broken or every promise unfulfilled Of course notL

%hroughout the day, we depend on others " on their intentions, their efforts, and their

goodwill. We trust that the airplane mechanics really performed the re(uired

maintenance. We depend upon that the farmer who we trust didnt lace his milk with

arsenic. We trust that the butchers scale isnt rigged. We live within a web of trust and

for society to exist, such must remain intact.

What if there is no trust Without trust, our world devolves into chaos. 'or example,

while there are notable exceptions, most drivers obey the traffic laws. 4%he ones that

dont are usually caught, either by authorities " again the law as a backstop " or by the

law of averages when they have an accident5. +o suppose in our commute to worktomorrow, we note that more drivers are disregarding the traffic laws. %hey are running

red lights, (uickly changing lanes, driving down shoulders, and disregarding speed limits.

:ltimately, if enough people #oin these scofflaws, traffic would reach a point where

everyone, regardless of their good intentions, would be compelled to cheat in order to

get safely arrive anywhere. +oon there would be traffic anarchy and it would be a world

of every driver for himself. If you dont believe this, try driving in a third world

country where there are seemingly no traffic laws. 'urthermore, once we threw away our

1 Notes on Sarah Jacks Strong and eak Ties!" #amien$an%re&'net'htt()**damien+an%re&'net*,eb*inde-'(h(.o(tion/com0contentie,/artic+eid/3)notesonsarahacksstrongand,eaktiescatid/14)net,orktheor&andana+&sistemid/26Thissource ,as corroborated b& reading other s&no(sis o% the stud&' See The m(act o% Socia+8edia on 9ntre(reneuria+ Net,orks"! #ebashish 8anda+!htt()**,,,'academia'edu*56262*T:908;?0S>=


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traffic laws, how long would it would take to reestablish them 1ow could you ever

start the reinstatement process if there was no trust

+imilarly, in business networking, trust is the coin of the realm. We have to believe that

our contacts are not simply in it for themselves. If you cant trust that the person that you

are networking with, then theres no reason to believe anything that they tell you.Without trust, there is no relationship.

%rust is violated in networking sites like inkedIn when a person you connect

automatically considers you a prospect through their mass marketing activity. +uch

people simply compile all of their contacts up into one homogenous wad and start selling.

'or these folks, inkedIn #ust becomes another way of drawing a crowd. If these people

really wanted to sell me something, couldnt they at least explore if there is a need or

desire

%herefore, in order to conform to volumes of sociological and psychological study,

combined with sheer mathematical modeling, the generation of genuine and effective social

business networks presents us with a conundrumG

6. %o have a successful business, one needs to reach a wide*ranging prospective market. %o

achieve this, you need to be able to meet and relate to as many people as possible.

+eparation theory, in that we can connect to practically anyone, anywhere through a chain

of helpful intermediaries, seems to work in our favor in this effort 4and there are scores of

people on inkedIn and other sites who are counting on this to be true5.

>. 1owever, while separation theory links us, a careful reading of the 2ilgrams study

shows that very high failure rate for making any connection using virtual strangers within

the six degrees of separation e(uates to an inefficient method to gain introduction to

possible prospects, connected individuals, or knowledge experts. +eparation theory

dependence fails to expand the communication limitations of our own personal

relationships 4not to mention problems of distance and space5.

M. & related complication of using separation theory*based social networking for business is

the fact that those in the chain have to be helpful. /enerally, we can only depend on

people we truly know to lend assistance, be it connections or knowledge. Only

personal kinship can overcome the inclination to follow the tenets of expectancy theory,

which defines an inherently human me*first attitude. %o be succinct, your network has

to ignore their personal WII'2.

E. We also have to acknowledge that there is a limitation to the number of people one can

actually know and with which you can achieve a genuine relationship as per the

;unbar =umber. %hus we wont be able to depend on very many people for any kind of

assistance. %he ;unbar =umber therefore defeats the promise of separation theory. It

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appears that we have to make do with people we really know, or those who know the

people we know.

F. %ruly effective social network communication and education seems to depend on the law

of the few, that is, that there are certain individuals in the world who are connectors or

mavens. If these arent people we can know or reach, then well never hit the funnel

that will help our mission to meet more people or gain more information.8. %hose that are most effective in social networking are those that freely give of themselves

in their role as connectors or mavens. %hese people break the mandates of expectancy

theory. 4%hough one could argue that they are doing whats best for them because of the

en#oyment they receive by helping others5. Nven those we are tied loosely to are

seemingly undependable, while our friends of friends might be of more networking

value.

9. %here must be a condition of trust among the participants in order for a network to

beneficial for its adherents.

1ow can we overcome this (uandary 1ow can you find locate the most effective peopleif your span of effective networking reach is somewhat limited 1ow can we depend on

others to do the best thing for us

!I. The Law of Thin Numbers

ogically then, what is needed to achieve effective and beneficial virtual socialHbusiness

relationships is to not only obtain a large and dependable platform to reach out to others,

but also the ability to obtain the confidence of a smaller group of people of

significance, that is, someone who has the ability to connect us with the people orknowledge that we seek. Our conclusion therefore is

Nffective business networking re(uires that we begin big, that is, to have a large

numbers of contacts who will, in turn, assist us to get small, which is in turn, to

pinpoint individuals of conse(uence, who are the people who are of value to us

4whether as connectorsHfunnels, mavens, or prospects5.

%rue business networking is a combination of weak and strong ties, limited by

;unbars =umber, flavored by Nxpectancy %heory, buoyed by +eparation %heory,

and based upon trust. !orrowing a term from mathematics, we might refer to this

as the law of thin numbers.

4=oteG %he term thin numbers is also derived from the phrase +trength in Numbers5.

+o, how can one maximi3e the aw of %hin =umbers in business virtual networking %o

do this, we need to build a platform that has certain attributes that truly address the science and

psychology inherent in human nature and networking. We would need to create

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a. a si3eable, fraternal*like virtual organi3ation where members are inclined to help

one another because of the intrinsic relationship built into the organi3ation 4much

like a fraternal order5$b. a virtual chamber of commerce that includes business people who desire to

further their own community by helping each other

c. a group that has re(uired sponsorship for a prospective member to #oin$d. an authentic pledge made by group members to aid, help, and assist others in

the group as long as it is possible and not contrary to ones own interests

e. an agreement by group members to offer their own personal and companys

expertise and products to other group members, to some degree without

expectation of compensation, while foregoing an opportunity to openly market

such to them 4but leaving such a possibility open if done in an acceptable

manner5.

!II. The effetiveness of oaths

& very particular difference in this business networking group is the %hin=umbers -ode

as produced herein. 2embers are expected to adhere to the tenets of this pledge and by

doing so, help create an atmosphere where associations built here are different than those

formed on other social networking sites. 1ere we create genuine relationships, even

between virtual strangers. 1ere are strong ties that might be active or can lie dormant

until needed later. %he way to do this is that the individuals are tied to the platform, not

to #ust each other.

=ow one might speculate that an oath is an archaic anachronism and that has little or noeffect on individual behavior in the modern world. !elieve it or not, there have been

studies done that illustrate that agreeing and pledging an oath in fact alters human

behavior.

Jecently, a study was done by ;uke Brofessor ;an &riely 4and detailed in his book,

Bredictably Irrational5 that tests the effectiveness of ethical imperatives, or moral pledges

and guidelines. In the experiment, ;r. &riely established three groups of 2I% students.

Nach group was administered a math test and were paid for correct answers. %he first

group, as the control group, simply took the test and handed it in. %hen they were

compensated for all correct answers. %he second group who were administered the testgraded their own paper and were told to keep the answer sheet. %his group simply

reported to the proctor the number of correct answers they achieved. &gain, they were

paid for the result. %he third group was given the test in exactly the same manner as the

second group with one exceptionG they had to sign a statement before taking the test

which readG I understand that this study falls under the 2I% honor system.

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%he results of this experiment were eye*opening. %he first group achieved an average of

three problems correct. %he second group, who had the opportunity to cheat because no

one actually saw their test results, scored an average of F.F answers correct. In other

words, they did indeed cheat 4because it would be highly unlikely that the second group,

as a whole, was simply smarter than the first random group5. %he third group, who had

the same opportunity to be untruthful as the second group but who were bound by the

honor code statement, reported to the proctor that they too had achieved three correct

answers " the exact same as the control group. What was even more surprising is that

there is no honor code at 2I%L %hus the conclusion that &riely came to was

#. . . we learned that people cheat when the have a chance to do so, but the

don$t cheat as much as the could. %oreover, once the begin thinking about

honest & whether b recalling the Ten Commandments or signing a simple

statement & the stop cheating completel. 'n other words, when we are removed

from the benchmarks of ethical thought, we tend to stra into dishonest. (ut if

we are reminded of moralit at the moment that we are tempted, then we are much

more likel to be honest.)

The ThinNumbers Code

%here is a difference between %hin=umbers and all other groups and organi3ations and it starts

with an oath, a promise, a pledge, a code. &ll %hin=umbers associates will sign and be governed

by the -ode.

It is the -ode, and what it stands for, that separates %hin=umbers from every business networking site.

)et it is only as good as the honesty and good*faith upon which it is practiced.

%he -ode is intentionally written in nonspecific terms because to be detailed would make the -ode too

unwieldy to live*up*to and administer. 1owever, there are certain ideals that underlie the wordsG

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The ThinNumbers )ode*

As an associate of ThinNumbers, I do solemnly pledge upon my honor, that I shall,

act professionally and respectfully toward all other associates;

use my greatest and best efforts to assist other associates through my own personal

nowledge and connections; and

respondto all re!uests in a manner that isrespectful, courteous and contemporaneous

even if I am unable to fulfill the re!uest"


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& %hin=umbers associate willG

treat others in accordance with #The *olden +ule, #treating others as the would like to be

treated

acknowledge that the highest aspiration of ThinNumbers is for all to en-o success and not to

used as a tool for one$s own selfish gain alone openl connect to other business people around the world through this group, and upon doing so,

consider them important associates and

take seriousl the formal act of nominating and sponsoring likeminded individuals for

association

be understanding when one associate has to decline to offer assistance./

+imilarly, a %hin=umbers associate will =O%G

overtl marketing a product or services to other associates as this diminishes the relationship and

undermines the trust which is inherent in the organization and,

not take undue advantage of an assistance offered, and if such is re!uested or occurs, proper

remuneration shall be offered.

P=oteG this might occur when the re(uest would actually adversely affect the provider. NxampleG Im

bidding on work and you ask me to help you get introduced to the decision*maker for that same #ob.

Ideas for ThinNumbers:

%he following are some of the ideas for %hin=umbers as the group grows and matures.

;ovetailing inkedIn and 'acebook where the profiles created there are incorporated 4but

expanded5. I note that I allows others to attest to another members expertise.

+houldnt you also be able to claim your own expertise

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individuals are sorted into communities where their expertise lies. %hese communities

will be more speciali3ed and limited than inkedIn /roups, with geographic, industry,

or speciali3ation 4or all of the above5.

a directory of associates that can be cross*referenced by geography, expertise,

connections, knowledge

a marketplace " a summari3ation of productsHservices that can be purchased. %he idea

would be that every business web site there would be somewhat homogenous " deficient

on the hype but more specific detail. 41ow many times have you gone to a website and

asked what does this company actually do %he standardi3ed website will give a

brief description of each company. & real description and not #ust fluff5.

opinions of products and services that you can believe in because they wont be paid for

a conduit of secure information " certified electronic mail

%hin=umbers is still only a concept.

ThinNumbers| 14

8ichae+

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The Law of Thin Numbers