The Dichotomy between Strong and Weak ties
In a recent study done by Professor Juliana Breines, she compares the effectiveness of both strong ties and weak ties in personal relationships and well-being. Traditionally, strong ties are seen as the most important connections you could have with one another, a lifelong bond that will enable increased connections in all facets of life. However, new research actually suggests that people who have a wide variety of different social bonds tend to be much healthier and have a greater chance at professional success. This article highlights many of the reasons behind this claim. It splits up different connections into four different groups: online contacts, professional networks, close friends, and significant others. Further grouping these together, I will place online contacts under weak ties and the other three groups into strong ties. These different types of strong ties have many things in common. They all play an integral role in different aspects of our lives such as emotional stability and economic security. Professional contacts allow formation of more connections with different people working in the same field or other colleagues at a company. Close friends and significant others both provide an outlet for built-up emotions and a need for social contact. This article also delves into the benefits of having many online contacts, or weak ties. These benefits might not be as clear, or feel as real, but they nevertheless play a crucial role in everyday lives. These contacts give valuable opportunities at something new over the confidentiality of the internet. In an anonymous setting, people could discover an entire personality they did not know existed, and in turn, uncover a whole new friend group over a few online contacts.
All of these ideas relate very closely to terms we have learned in class over the past few weeks. The first important term we have learned is the Strong Triadic Closure Property, and this can be used to describe the connections made through professional contacts. Through a strong connection with either a company or a close colleague, people are introduced to other important contacts, and thus a weak tie is formed between them. These weak ties demonstrate “the strength of weak ties”, by expanding one’s social network and increasing the likelihood of prominence in the professional world. Another very important concept we have learned is the idea of bridges in social networks. These are also highlighted in this article through many online contacts. Through the anonymity of the internet, entire new cultures can be introduced to someone through possibly only one online friend, creating a bridge between the two friends. These bridges are incredibly important to living a healthy life, as they provide valuable opportunities to branch out and try new things, or to experience something completely unique. By understanding the power of both strong and weak ties, we are able to change our health and happiness in dramatic ways and truly allow us to live a fulfilling life.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/are_some_ties_better_than_others