This article is a continuation of The Importance of Networks in Our Relationships and introduces a theoretical component that I find interesting to explore.
Mark Granovetter looked at this phenomenon in the 70s, writing an influential article with the suggestive name ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’, and his conclusions are as surprising as they are valuable. What follows is based on that article.
What is the strength of ties?
Not wanting to overwhelm the reader, I’ll introduce a theoretical concept: the strength of ties (remember that in the network context we’re discussing, ties are the relationships between people).
The strength of relationships is a function of the time, emotional intensity, mutual trust and reciprocity of services that characterise the relationship.
Obviously, this is not a mathematically rigorous definition, but here are some examples that fit the definition well:
- The relationship we have with a close friend, with whom we speak often, we like, we help and who helps us, is a strong relationship in the sense of the definition.
- The relationship we have with a work colleague, to whom we don’t feel particularly emotionally attached, but with whom we deal very often, ask some things of them and they ask other things of us, is also a strong relationship.
- The relationship we have with a school mate we haven’t seen for years, but to whom we feel strongly attached, will be a weaker relationship, no matter how strong the emotional bond that unites us may be.
- The work colleague from whom we’ve drifted apart and whose name we have trouble remembering is undoubtedly a weak relationship (at the very extreme, it’s no longer a relationship).
- The relationship we have with the man at the grocery store, with whom we speak frequently, who knows and recognises us, but who is still not close to us, is a weak one.
Understanding the concept of relationship strength, we can now dive into Granovetter’s analysis.
The strength of weak ties
Assuming that a network is made up of strong and weak relationships, the author concludes that it is the weak relationships, not the strong ones, that connect the network and give it consistency.
If only strong relationships existed, society would be fragmented, it would take much more than six degrees of distance to reach everyone and there might be people I couldn’t reach at all.
The subject may seem a little dry at first glance – ties, relationships, networks… – but the lessons we can learn from this are extremely valuable for our lives, we all have a lot to gain from understanding this phenomenon well.
In this article I present some practical considerations about what this phenomenon teaches us.
Jaime Quintas
Illustration by Ana Salvado | All rights reserved.
