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Message: <blockquote data-quote="cheryl" data-source="post: 2330" data-attributes="member: 1"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-why-your-weak-tie-friendships-may-mean-more-than-you-think" target="_blank">Why your ‘weak-tie’ friendships may mean more than you think - BBC</a>Close friends are important – but research shows that building networks of casual acquaintances can boost happiness, knowledge and a sense of belonging. For nearly 10 years, I have spent my Monday evenings attending rehearsals for my amateur choir. Mondays are not my favourite day, and I often arrive in a bad mood, but by the end of the rehearsal, I usually feel energised. The singing does me good. So do the people. With a few exceptions, I wouldn’t describe my fellow choir members as close friends; most of them, I barely know at all. We exchange brief chats, smiles and the odd joke – but that’s enough for me to come away feeling a little better about the world.There is no choir practice now, and won’t be for a long time. I miss it. In lockdown, I don’t feel short on affection or emotional support, but I do feel short of friendly faces and casual conversations. Another way of putting this is that I miss my weak ties.In 1973, Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, published a paper entitled <a href="https://www.cse.wustl.edu/~m.neumann/fl2017/cse316/materials/strength_of_weak_ties.pdf" target="_blank">The Strength of Weak Ties</a>. It went on to become one of the most influential sociology papers of all time. Until then scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the quality of relationships with close friends and family. Granovetter showed that quantity matters, too.</blockquote>

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