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December 23, 2011

Strange But True!

Q. What if all the world's couple of billion kids tweeted Santa at the same time? Could the social network bear up under the weight? What if the Jolly Old Gent also had a Facebook account?

A. All communications systems have limits, points out Purdue's Douglas Comer. For example, the old Bell Telephone system was designed to handle all the calls on Mother's Day, but it could become overloaded and a caller would hear the message, “All circuits are busy; try again later.” The Internet, however, is more analogous to a highway system where there may be a traffic jam at 5 p.m. but eventually all drivers get home.


 
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