On the Net: Kevin Bacon’s new SixDegrees.org, a social networking site for charity

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/01/2007 (7132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

(AP) – Kevin Bacon has started SixDegrees.org, a social networking site for charity that trades on the famous game based on the actor’s ubiquity.

The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon held that any actor could be connected through films to Bacon within six links. In a video on his site, Bacon says he was “horrified” when he first heard of the game and thought it was a joke at his own expense. (It sorta was.)

But now Bacon sees it as fitting into the “small world phenomenon,” where everyone is connected. It’s an idea that much of the Web 2.0 is built on – linking people with social networks like MySpace and Friendster.

Unfortunately, Bacon’s site has little do with the Six Degrees game – which in some form, one figures, would make an excellent website. But it’s hard to fault Bacon since his heart is in the right place. In less than a week, the site has raised more than US$67,000.

SixDegrees.org accepts donations toward the favourite charities of participating celebrities, among them Kanye West and Nicole Kidman.

Anyone can link to the “badges” of celebrities, or make their own badge to sponsor a favourite charity, illustrated with their own stories and photos. Bacon will match the top six non-celebrity fundraisers with grants of up to $10,000 each.

It’s a little complicated, considering that the idea of SixDegrees.org is to make donating easier and, with the help of celebrities, fun. But it remains a smart, forward-thinking way of soliciting money for good causes.

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Video OF THE WEEK: www.youtube.com/sundancechannel

If you’re interested in exploring the Sundance Film Festival without trudging through the Utah snow, a YouTube channel has been created by the Sundance Channel. It features clips of the cable channel’s “Festival Dailies,” filmmaker profiles and a daily video blog from independent filmmakers Arin Crumley and Susan Buice. A certain amount of pretentiousness comes through in several of the videos, but that’s a necessary ingredient in giving a full picture of the independent film festival.

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DOWNLOAD THIS: “Dashboard,” Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse broke through to the mainstream with their 2004 album, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News.” “Dashboard” is the first single from their upcoming album “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank,” which features the addition of Johnny Marr, the former Smiths guitarist. The newfound popularity of Modest Mouse (who has been one of indie rock’s finest bands for a decade-plus) has rubbed some the wrong way, and the danceable “Dashboard” has yielded some early negative reviews that suggest it is (gasp!) upbeat. To these ears, it just sounds rockin’. You can stream it at www.modestmousemusic.com.