Feeling Connected: A Look into Graphs
A Structure Unlike Any Other Structure
In Computer Science, graphs are used to represent relationships between different types of data (vertices). The appeal of graphs in Computer Science lies in their immense power and versatility, and are a common data structure used for building social networks, building transportation networks, and representing molecular structures.
When I was first introduced the data structure in class, I was taught how data could be organized and classified as entities, with associated bridges forming relationships between each entity.
In our assignments, we were asked to model graphs, describing how exactly we would choose to implement them. Would our graph be undirected or directed? Would the edges be weighted or unweighted? What would each vertex represent? Each edge? Being able to model how all of the entities in the data were connected, and make effective design decisions to accurately represent these connections, allowed us to form associations and patterns to better understand the larger picture.
Learning about the immense capabilities of graphs inspired me to delve deeper into how companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google managed all of their data, and form a sound understanding of the different use cases of graphs. I reached out to a few that I knew who had knowledge of Computer Science, friends who had never before seen a line a code, and my peers learning the data structure alongside me, explaining to them my fascination and awe. The massive capabilities of graphs are truly astounding, and beyond just their computational ability, I believe their greatest strength lies in what they represent in application. The greatest measure of graphs is the meaning behind each edge and vertex; that is, what they mean in the greater context of the world.
An Introduction to the Magic Behind Facebook
If we take a graph used to convey a social network like Facebook, each vertex in the graph represents a user, and each edge represents relationships that that user has to others in his or her network.
The explanation and image is an oversimplification of the depth in which Facebook conveys its data, but the overarching idea is that the data structure is capable of representing more than 2 billion relationships between people in the world. I, myself, am a vertex in this extremely large graph. I am one in more than 2 billion vertices in the graph; just a little speck, like all the other specks.
Yet, like any other human being in this graph, I have my own unique experiences, qualities, and character traits that make me personally unique to all other individuals on this planet. I consider myself an individual, truly different than my peers. I hold a different set of core beliefs, have a different sense of style, and carry a different set of skills and backgrounds that make me an individual. I have personal connections with others that are unique to myself, and stronger (and weaker) relationships to others in comparison. I define the weights of each edge connected to my vertex, the number and identity of other vertices I’m connected to, and the values within that identify me. As a real person, I am the driver of change of my fate in the graph.
A Belief in Something More
I believe that people can change their fate because I truly believe that to some extent, people have the power to change the world. I believe that people can be swayed and influenced by other people, and further create ripples of effects to others. People, as they are, are originally influenced by the creation of people — ideas. Ideas, specifically the big, bold, and innovate ideas, have the power to influence change in the world and create positive and negative impacts.
The feeling of building relationships and obtaining a sense of “connectedness” is able to be represented in a graph. Graphs are able to capture the potential of people, as they can dynamically show the changes that occur when people influence and interact with other people. The type of data that can be represented by a graph is valuable, I believe, because relationships and connections are valuable. Considering Google Maps, the vertices within represent places and the edges represent paths from each place to each other. The construction of the graph puts into perspective that the entire world is connected in numerous ways, that there is no place that is truly unobtainable.
Furthermore, LinkedIn contains professionals in the workforce by representing users with individual talents, goals, and ideas as vertices and their professional relationships as edges. Their mission statement is simple:
“connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful”
The result of this representation allows us to look deeper into their mission statement and conclude that perhaps, the enormous amount of talent could not only make individuals more productive and successful, but the entirety of the world more innovative. It allows us to believe that the talent existing in the network could lead to impossible ideas becoming tangible, more opportunity in the workforce, and a higher standard for growth. It urges us to imagine, to fantasize, and to dream of impossible things. Because as it stands, with the resources, ideas, talent, existing in people, anything is possible.
