@dariasteigmanIt’s an amazingly small world sometimes, isn’t it?

— Lawrence Fox (@TheWizardGuy) March 1, 2012

It is a small world.

But maybe not in the random way that Lawrence Fox was thinking.

I met Fox via LinkedIn when he answered a business question I’d put out to my network. I thanked him (and quoted him in a column). He picked up the phone and called me. And we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

My network includes Harp Arora, whom I’d met at an IABC leadership conference. And Arora and Fox are connected, because they’ve both been involved with the Association of Independent Consultants. So because of that second degree connection, my question popped to the top of Fox’s LinkedIn Q&A results.

It used to be you met your friend’s friends and colleagues because they connected you or referred you. Social media facilitates those connections, but you still have to build the relationships.

And since we’re talking degrees of separation, did you know I’m three degrees of separation away from Kevin Bacon? Seriously.

Photo by Abi Skipp (Flickr).