Weak ties and contact initiation in everyday life: Exploring contextual variations from contact diaries

This study examines how the significance of weak ties varies by contact initiation and purposes of contact in everyday life. Based on data from 55 contact diaries, we analyze the extent to which diary keepers judge each of 104,361 specific contacts as beneficial after they occur, by how well they knew the target person beforehand. Our hypothesis testing and bootstrap resampling show that when a diary keeper initiates a contact, weak ties result in more gains. In contrast, when the other party starts the contact, it is strong rather than weak ties that turn out to be more beneficial to the diary keeper. Such effects vary by other contextual factors, however, particularly the purposes of contacts.

► Using contact diaries, we extend existing studies of weak ties to everyday life.
► We examine how the significance of contacts varies by tie strength under various situations.
► The findings suggest that when one initiates a contact, weak ties tend to be more beneficial.
► When contacts are initiated by the other party, strong ties are more beneficial.
► The effects of tie strength and contact initiation vary by purposes of contact.