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

Nicole C. Krämer, Leonie Rösner, Sabrina C. Eimler, Stephan Winter and German Neubaum
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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
Sabrina C. Eimler: Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
Stephan Winter: Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany
German Neubaum: Social Psychology: Media and Communication, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, Duisburg 47057, Germany

Societies, 2014, vol. 4, issue 4, 1-25

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.

Keywords: social capital; bridging/bonding social capital; social support online; social networking sites (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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