Keep Your Friends Close, and Your Acquaintances Closer?

Can Facebook, and other non-professional social networking sites (SNSs) help people to develop networks and professional connections in addition to professional networking sites?

     With the new developments of technology and SNSs "changes in interaction patterns and social connections are already evident among young people." ¹  These new interactions are expected to lead to two new changes across society.  At an "interpersonal level, the identity information in profiles helps to enable connections between individuals that might not otherwise take place." ¹  For example, if a person identifies with liking a particular singer, they can link up with other people who also like that singer.  Then at a "community level, the organizing feature of these sites lower the transaction costs for connecting people who share one interest but differ on other dimensions." ¹  In this instance, people can identify as acquaintances without having to make a huge time commitment to their friends on Facebook or other SNSs.

     Facebook is an easy way to connect with people that you meet briefly or do not know well enough to contact."  When we meet these potential acquaintances at parties, etc, each step of the process is fraught with potential pitfalls that can prevent individuals from reconnecting in the future." ¹  It is Facebook and other SNSs, that provide its users the opportunity to stay connected with these acquaintances for long periods of time.  Facebook helps us to meet our "bridging social capital which is associated with our weak ties or friends of friends, past colleagues or other acquaintances." ¹    Facebook helps people to widen their weak ties network.  Although we are not emotionally as close to weak ties as strong ties, "research has shown that we are more likely to receive information about an employment opportunity from someone we see rarely." ¹  So weak ties are more valuable for new opportunities than are our strong ties.

     Facebook helps to increase, the bridging social capital.  Facebook provides "status updates and feeds, enables individuals to broadcast both major life changes and daily activities to their network allowing for social surveillance." ¹   This helps keep Facebook friends keep in tune with what's going on with each others lives.  Even though "knowing these events won't change one's life, the knowledge accumulates into a powerful awareness of one's social network and provides continuous linkage to weak ties." ¹  Another perk is that this "can strengthen offline connections" or "provide a reason to reconnect with an old friend." ¹  

     All in all, it could be extremely beneficial for a person to create contacts through SNSs.  It is a simple way to stay in contact with someone that you meet in class or on a walk through the part.  Since weak ties are more beneficial for the sharing of information, they are more likely to lead to career, job, or internship opportunities.  Having lots of weak ties on Facebook, could help a person to discover an opportunity that he or she would not have known about otherwise.  So when looking for a job, it could be better to keep one's acquaintances closer than one's friends.  

[¹] Ellison, Nicole B, Cliff Lampe, and Charles Steinfield. “Social Network Sites and 

Society: Current Trends and Future Possibilities.” The Potential for Technology-Enabled Connections (Jan. 2009):

 6-10. Google Scholar. Web. 22 Oct. 2011.