Albert-Lazlo Barbasi's "Six Degrees of Separation" describes people as pathways. This is also the case in Duncan Watt's "Six Degrees of Interconnection. People are separated from each other through pathways which exist as social connections. This is especially true with the rise of social media such as facebook or twitter. Twitter gives people direct access and interconnectivity to other people which didn't exist before. Facebook's mutual friend suggestions is another example of human pathways. It could be the case that you find your best friend from high school knows your best friend from college.
The world has become a bit smaller through social media. Barbasi poses that the six degrees is a theory only applicable to humans. It might tie to our desire to form social links. These social networks and pathways may not always be a good thing. Although there are merits to making connections easier, social conventions have shifted to online interactions. Facebook has become a race for the most "friends" which have become to mean people you barely know. It is believed that the maximum amount of social connections a person can have is around 150 people. It is impossible to have a close connection with more than that number of people.
In Tilman Baugaertel's "L'art pour net.art" it talks about the intersection of art and technology and the changes it has sparked. Technology has opened up a new frontier for art and a new thinking process for future artists. There are already art forms being created from social media and the like. Just like the million dollar homepage, media related works reach a massive amount of audience instantaneously. This is something to be explored further.
Artie Vierkant's "The Image Object Post-Internet" describes a new artistic cultural climate. As such, artists must come to adapt to these new changes accordingly. No longer can they be a master at one medium. To reach the public, a website is needed as well as photos, an exhibit, and business relations. Nothing is in a fixed state which means artists are coming to realize they must work in a variety of different mediums.