Tipping Points and Social Networks

... Technorella is back. After procrastinating for much of the day, I'm catching up on my reading for my digital media class. This week, it's all about social networks, tipping points, and early adopters.

Right now, I'm struggling with the idea that in a very tangible sense, weaker social connections may be more "beneficial" to an individual than stronger ones. For example, it's usually helpful to use a broad network of friends, colleagues and peers when engaging in a job search. Broadly speaking, good things - like a new job - can come out of relatively weak social ties.

I completely buy this idea; a former colleague of mine who works in the cosmetics industry and I frequently support our respective friends and co-workers in their job searches by trading resumes. This relatively "weak" social tie is certainly useful. But what interests me is what this really means about online social networks.

Sites like Facebook and MySpace enable us to broaden our social spheres - quickly, easily and without much thought. To a large extent, these forums are all about establishing weak social ties. Maybe I've had the wrong idea about social networking in the digital age; maybe in trying to compare Facebook friendships to real world relationships, I've missed the boat.

Perhaps online social networks are more about reaping tangible benefits from weak social ties - instead of replacing in-person communications.