Six Degrees of Wikipedia turns the encyclopedia into a directed maze: name two articles and it searches for the shortest hyperlink routes between them. The result is less a trivia answer than a map of Wikipedia's strange connective tissue, complete with multiple paths and a graph view.
What is Six Degrees of Wikipedia?
Pick a source topic, pick a destination, and let the site hunt through Wikipedia's web of internal links. Independent technical comparisons describe autocomplete cards, several possible shortest routes, and an interactive graph that makes shared midpoints visible. That broader view is the real treat: an apparently sensible chain may veer through a template, infobox, or wildly general article before landing at the target. It can be useful for planning a wikirace, but it is even better as a machine for discovering how editorial structure connects subjects that look unrelated at first glance.
What you can do there
- Find shortest hyperlink paths between two Wikipedia articles
- Inspect multiple routes as a connected graph
Why we picked it
The site gives a familiar parlor game a satisfying computational x-ray. A plain list would answer the question, but the branching route display turns the answer into something worth poking at, comparing, and sharing with another incurable tab opener.
How to get the most from it
Choose two specific English Wikipedia article titles and begin with a pairing that sounds absurd. Compare the returned routes rather than stopping at the first chain, then open the intermediate articles on Wikipedia if you want to confirm where each directed link actually appears.
Good to know
JavaScript is required. Treat every route as a clue, not a guarantee about today's encyclopedia: in December 2023 the creator said the underlying data was already several years old, and Wikipedia keeps changing. Searches may take a few seconds, and links from templates or infoboxes can produce surprising shortcuts. Current pricing, privacy behavior, mobile support, and accessibility remain unverified.
Who made it, and when?
Jacob Wenger is the credited creator or organization.
Creator’s official page Open Six Degrees of WikipediaMore like this
The Pudding
Visual essays that use code, data, and interaction to explain culture unusually well.
Earth Nullschool
A living globe of wind, weather, ocean currents, and atmospheric motion.
The True Size Of…
Drag countries around the map and watch familiar size comparisons fall apart.
MapCrunch
Drop into a random street-level view somewhere in the world and figure out where you landed.