SEtalk: The Surprising Strength of Weak Ties

Think about how you found your current job. Did a close friend help you? Or someone you barely knew? Most people guess it was a good friend. But the research says something very different! Often, the person who helps us is almost a stranger. In the early 1970s, a young sociologist asked a simple question. How do people really find new jobs? Mark Granovetter talked to people near Boston who'd recently changed jobs. Most found their job through someone they didn't see very often! Not best friends, but old classmates, ex-colleagues, friends of friends. He called these people our weak ties. They're acquaintances, people we know a little, but not well. So why are they so useful? Because our close friends know the same things we do. Weak ties live in different worlds, so they hear different news! Is this still true today, with the internet? In 2022, researchers studied about twenty million LinkedIn users. Again, the most helpful contacts weren't our closest ones! They were people with just a few friends in common. Think of your close friends as a warm, small room. It's comfortable, and everyone in it loves you. But new chances usually come from outside that room. Three years ago, I lost my job. My close friends were kind, but nobody knew of any jobs. Then one morning, I was walking my dog in the park. A man I often chatted with said his company was hiring! I've worked there happily for three years now. So here's what I've learned. Your friends give you comfort. Weak ties give you chances. This week, message one old contact you've almost forgotten. And say hello to someone you see but never talk to. Your next big chance might be just one hello away! Thank you.