Study on LinkedIn shows strength of 'weak ties'

A social study on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the internet, conducted over a five years time period showed the importance of ‘weak ties’ in helping people land new work opportunities.

“Weak ties,” or the loose acquaintances with which you have few mutual connections, are seemingly more helpful than people you actually know well.

This is based on observational data showing a correlation between weak ties and job mobility, meaning you’re more likely to get a job through a friend or a friend than through a friend.

This was first pointed out by the sociologist Mark Granovetter and is now being explored further in a recent study.

The authors of the study posted on ‘Science’, KARTHIK RAJKUMAR, GUILLAUME SAINT-JACQUES IAVOR BOJINOV, ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON, and SINAN ARAL, said that “the strength of weak ties is an influential social-scientific theory that stresses the importance of weak associations in influencing the transmission of information through social networks”.

The authors analyzed data from multiple large-scale randomized experiments on LinkedIn’s “People You May Know algorithm”, which recommends new connections to LinkedIn members.

This was conducted to test the extent to which weak ties increase job mobility on LinkedIn.

The study showed that whereas weak ties increased job mobility in more digital industries, strong ties increased job mobility in less digital industries.

Sinan Aral said: “One thing the study highlights is the degree to which algorithms are guiding fundamental, baseline, important outcomes, like employment and unemployment,” according to Scientific American.