I came upon the concept of “the strength of weak ties” in the book, Who Let the Blogs Out? : A Hyperconnected Peek at the World of Weblogs by Biz Stone, self-proclaimed Genius.

The book itself is cioppino mix of everything from code snippets to advice to reflective essays. It’s a quick read, fun for someone like me who’s immersed in blogdom and willing to gloss over the stuff I already know while picking out the nuggets that when implemented, will transform me into a Blogger Extraordinaire. It’s eclectic and blog-like in its coverage of the weblog phenomenon. It might make a good non-technical intro to blogging.

Back to the value of weak ties: these are the connections we make with acquaintances–coworkers, friends of friends, people you meet at parties or in the coffee shop, etc. Strong ties are the intimate ones we have with relatives and close friends.

In terms of information sharing, strong tie networks are valuable but limited: these networks tend to be cliquish. Sources of new information are redundant, all of the people in the network may already have similar opinions and preferences, etc. Your weak ties are your connections to other cliques, other tight-knit social groups.

Stone argues that we’re more likely to find jobs and to acquire new and useful information through the weak networks. Hypothetical example: I tell my family that I’m looking for a job as an exotic male dancer. No one in my family seems to know of any openings, or they simply don’t want to reveal nocturnal habits or discuss uncomfortable gender issues. Uncle Rico talks to the bartender at the pub he frequents, who knows of a customer who runs a risque singing telegram service. Voila! (not so) Instant interview!

This is just one of the discussions (there’s one on harvester ant colonies and another on Paul Revere’s success and the failure of William Dawes–who also rode a horse into the night, but only in a futile attempt to warn of the coming of the redcoats). Even if Stone doesn’t create the best blogger’s self-help book, he does a wonderful job of reflecting and speculating on the power of weblogs to transform our own personal networks and to increase our sources of weak-tie information and opportunities. I recommend the last chapter of this book to any avid bloggers.