The Strength of Weak Ties
Granovetter argues that the strength of a tie is a combination of the time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy and the reciprocal services that characterise it. His central claim is that the weak ties between people, the acquaintances, carry what close ties cannot: because a person's close friends tend to know each other and share information, a weak tie is the usual bridge between otherwise separate circles, and the paper concludes that all bridges are weak ties. The abstract stresses the cohesive power of weak ties and notes that network models which focus on strong ties confine themselves to small, well-defined groups. The paper illustrates the point with data on how people found jobs, and it acknowledges that those with strong ties are more motivated to help, while arguing that structure outweighs motivation.
Granovetter argues that the strength of a tie is a combination of the time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy and the reciprocal services that characterise it. His central claim is that the weak ties between people, the acquaintances, carry what close ties cannot: because a person's close friends tend to know each other and share information, a weak tie is the usual bridge between otherwise separate circles, and the paper concludes that all bridges are weak ties. The abstract stresses the cohesive power of weak ties and notes that network models which focus on strong ties confine themselves to small, well-defined groups. The paper illustrates the point with data on how people found jobs, and it acknowledges that those with strong ties are more motivated to help, while arguing that structure outweighs motivation.
Written from the abstract on the University of Chicago Press journal page, and the journal text as hosted by the MIT Social Media Group.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. doi:10.1086/225469 https://doi.org/10.1086/225469