What Are Interpersonal Ties?
Interpersonal ties come in a variety of forms, all included under the umbrella term of ‘social ties:’
Strong ties: Relationships with family members, close friends, and coworkers. Generally, these relationships are fortified by frequent or long-term interactions and geographic proximity.
Weak ties: Relationships with classmates, friends of friends, and other distant acquaintances. These are people you may have met but have had minimal interaction with.
Temporary ties: Relationships (or lack thereof) with people who you share some connection with, but may never have interacted with in person. These people could include Facebook friends who you share mutual connections with, but have not actually met in real life.
Current online social networking platforms help people to expand their social connections in a radial pattern. An individual’s strong ties connect him with weak ties, who in turn connect him with temporary ties.
Netaround’s social network concept works in reverse. Based on proximity, we allow people to pull temporary ties into their weak tie circles, eventually transforming these connections into strong ties in an organic social process.
Netaround bridges the gap between the digital world and the real world, reminding us that the people in our phones can become living, breathing connections in our actual lives.
