Long ties, the social ties that bridge different communities, are widely believed to play crucial roles in spreading novel information in social networks. However, some existing network theories and prediction models indicate that long ties might dissolve quickly or eventually become redundant, thus putting into question the long-term value of long ties. Our empirical analysis of real-world dynamic networks shows that contrary to such reasoning, long ties are more likely to persist than other social ties, and that many of them constantly function as social bridges without being embedded in local networks. Using a novel cost-benefit analysis model combined with machine learning, we show that long ties are highly beneficial, which instinctively motivates people to expend extra effort to maintain them. This partly explains why long ties are more persistent than what has been suggested by many existing theories and models. Overall, our study suggests the need for social interventions that can promote the formation of long ties, such as mixing people with diverse backgrounds.
翻译:连接不同社区的长期联系,即社会联系,被广泛认为在社交网络传播新信息方面发挥着关键作用。然而,一些现有的网络理论和预测模型表明,长期联系可能会迅速消散或最终变得多余,从而质疑长期联系的长期价值。 我们对现实世界动态网络的经验分析表明,与这种推理相反,长期联系比其他社会联系更可能持久,而且其中许多长期联系经常成为社会桥梁,而没有嵌入本地网络。我们使用一种新的成本效益分析模型,加上机器学习,表明长期联系非常有益,本能地激励人们为维持这些联系付出额外的努力。这在一定程度上解释了为什么长期联系比许多现有理论和模型所建议的更持久。总体而言,我们的研究表明,有必要采取社会干预措施,促进长期联系的形成,例如将不同背景的人混合在一起。