The Importance of Weak Tie Relationships in Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
Imagine the number of people you might interact with on a normal day. This includes more than just the friends in your social circle, your boss at work, and the people you live with. Think about the number of brief interactions you might have with other passing people, like the server at Chipotle, passing coworkers, a seat buddy in a large lecture hall, etc. These represent weak ties in your life, whereas the friends in your social circle, your boss at work, and the people you live with are the strong tie relationships in your life—amongst others, of course. Just as discussed in class, these ties are the types of edges that connect the nodes—you and the people you interact with—and form a network. Strong ties represent closer, tighter relationships, while weak ties represent loose, casual relationships. This BBC article stresses the importance of these seemingly insignificant weak tie relationships just mentioned.
You must have noticed the effect of the absence of weak tie relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, though you might not have recognized it this way. Lockdown limited the number of interactions we had every day to just being with strong tie relationships—family, close friends over Zoom, Facetime, video games. There were no more run-ins with your old lab partner while walking to class or break room gossip sessions with your coworkers. The monotony of this strong-tie-relationship-only lifestyle became limiting to not only variety in social interactions, but also for creativity and even mental health.
According to a study referenced in this BBC article, those with “larger networks of weak ties tended to be happier overall,” and on days with more weak tie interactions, participants “experienced more happiness and a greater sense of belonging.” These casual conversations and moments with weak tie relationships are often more light-hearted and easy-going, allowing for less stress and burden than the more heavy and serious interactions with a strong tie relationship.
The diversity inherent in weak tie relationships introduces variety into our social landscape. These connections expose us to different perspectives, ideas, and experiences not prevalent within our immediate social circles. Weak ties become a source of creativity, offering inspiration beyond the confines of strong tie relationships. So make sure to maintain those weak tie relationships and interactions, as they are more important than you might think.