A measurement of how strongly we are connected in the Web of Trust.

We live in a small world.

It's not about geographic location. It's about how strongly each individual is connected in the Web of Trust. 

• Alice knows Beatrice; Beatrice is 1 "step" away from Alice.
• Beatrice knows John; John is 1 step away from Beatrice.
• John knows Diane; Diane is 1 step away from John.
• Alice doesn't know John nor Diane; but thanks to Beatrice, John is 2 steps away from Alice, and Diane is 3 steps away from Alice.

According to a theory, every human being is less than 6 steps away from anybody else in the world. 

How connected are we in the Web of trust?

We might be closer than we think to each other, thanks to our relationships in the G1 community.

The Web of Trust is designed to record connections established between human beings on the blockchain.

A G1 currency co-creator will be considered as too far from other G1 currency co-creators when she or he has little connections in the Web of Trust. This would be the case for someone who doesn't build enough relationships/connections in the G1 community or when an account is of an imaginary person (fake account). It is easy to identify these profiles in the Web of Trust.  

The Distance Rule of 5 steps was invented to prevent these situations.

The rule states that only 20% of the Referent co-creators can be more than 5 steps away from all Referent Co-creators. Put another way,  80% of the Referent Co-creators must be less than 5 steps away from all Referent Co-creators. 

**Please note that steps are only counted in one direction: **

Alice certifies Barbara. So Barbara is one step away from Alice.

But if Alice isn't certified by Barbara, she is not one step away from Barbara. Barbara must certify Alice so that the system records that Alice is one step away from Barbara.

So it is useless that you certify Referent co-creators to improve your connections in the web of trust. You must instead get to know these referent members so that they agree to certify you. 

In conclusion

To become a G1 Currency co-creator, you must be at less than 5 steps from 80% of all Referent. The percentage number of Referent located at less than 5 steps away from you is called your "distance level".