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Let the Weakest Link Go! Empirical Explorations on the Relative Importance of Weak and Strong Ties on Social Networking Sites

Author

Listed:
  • Nicole C. Krämer

    (Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany)

  • Leonie Rösner

    (Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Sabrina C. Eimler

    (Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Stephan Winter

    (Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • German Neubaum

    (Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Theoretical approaches as well as empirical results in the area of social capital accumulation on social networking sites suggest that weak ties/bridging versus strong ties/bonding social capital should be distinguished and that while bonding social capital is connected to emotional support, bridging social capital entails the provision of information. Additionally, recent studies imply the notion that weak ties/bridging social capital are gaining increasing importance in today’s social media environments. By means of a survey ( N = 317) we challenged these presuppositions by assessing the social support functions that are ascribed to three different types of contacts from participants’ network (weak, medium, or strong tie). In contrast to theoretical assumptions, we do not find that weak ties are experienced to supply informational support whereas strong ties first and foremost provide emotional support. Instead we find that within social networking sites, strong ties are perceived to provide both emotional and informational support and weak ties are perceived as less important than recent literature assumes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole C. Krämer & Leonie Rösner & Sabrina C. Eimler & Stephan Winter & German Neubaum, 2014. "Let the Weakest Link Go! Empirical Explorations on the Relative Importance of Weak and Strong Ties on Social Networking Sites," Societies, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-25, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:785-809:d:43711
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rajagopal, 2014. "The Human Factors," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Architecting Enterprise, chapter 9, pages 225-249, Palgrave Macmillan.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Weisha & Shukla, Paurav & Shi, Guicheng, 2021. "Digitalized social support in the healthcare environment: Effects of the types and sources of social support on psychological well-being," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. Hershkovitz, Arnon & Hayat, Zack, 2020. "The role of tie strength in assessing credibility of scientific content on facebook," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Dong, Xueyan & Wang, Tienan, 2018. "Social tie formation in Chinese online social commerce: The role of IT affordances," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 49-64.
    4. Sonja Utz & Nicole Muscanell, 2015. "Social Media and Social Capital: Introduction to the Special Issue," Societies, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-5, May.
    5. Yihan Guo & Junling Xu & Yuan Zhou, 2022. "Effects of Internet Adoption on Health and Subjective Well-Being of the Internal Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Xianghua Lu & Tian Lu & Chong (Alex) Wang & Ruofan Wu, 2021. "Can Social Notifications Help to Mitigate Payment Delinquency in Online Peer‐to‐Peer Lending?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(8), pages 2564-2585, August.

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