Skip to main content



Triadic Closure to Enhance LinkedIn Connections

Source: http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2784

With about 467 million users, LinkedIn is now the world’s largest social network for working professionals. Users can look for jobs, connect with recruiters and employers, and build your credibility and professional network. But just how likely is it that your new connection will actually land you a job? According to a recent study, “To Be or Not to Be Linked: Online Social Networks and Job Search by Unemployed Workforce,” published in the INFORMS journal Management Science, even though LinkedIn users are able to connect with employers and find job opportunities easily, these links will typically not lead to a job offer. Professors Rajiv Garg and Rahul Telang conducted a survey among 424 LinkedIn users on the subject of various job search avenues. The results of their study showed that LinkedIn generated the second highest number of job leads, with weak ties providing the most job leads and strong ties providing the most job offers.

Garg and Telang’s research clearly connects to our course, as it shows a real life application of the power of strong and weak ties. In this case, the professors speculate that to follow up on a job lead, a user must connect to another user via an email, phone call, or in-person meeting. This transitions the weak “job lead” link to a strong interview or new job. If no attempt at a follow up is made, the connection is weaker than others, and remains so. It’s also interesting to consider triadic closure within the LinkedIn network. These closures can either be influenced by strong and weak ties, or positive and negative ones. If user A shares a strong positive connection with user B, and user A shares a strong positive connection with user C, user B and C are more likely to share at least a weak connection, since they both have something in common with user A. A is also more likely to recommend B to C and C to B, since A shares a positive connection with both. Triadic closures such as these are what can push a weak job lead on LinkedIn to an in-person interview and perhaps a job offer.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Blogging Calendar

September 2017
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

Archives