Report One in, one out: Oxford study shows people limit social networks

tom_mai78101

The Helper Connoisseur / Ex-MineCraft Host
Staff member
Reaction score
1,632
Despite the way that mobile technologies and social networking sites have made it easier to stay in touch with large numbers of acquaintances, a new study has shown that people still put most of their efforts into communicating with small numbers of close friends or relatives. We often operate unconscious one-in, one-out policies so that communication patterns remain the same even when friendships change.

'Although social communication is now easier than ever, it seems that our capacity for maintaining emotionally close relationships is finite,' said Dr Felix Reed-Tsochas, James Martin Lecturer in Complex Systems at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. 'While this number varies from person to person, what holds true in all cases is that at any point individuals are able to keep up close relationships with only a small number of people, so that new friendships come at the expense of "relegating" existing friends.'

The research, 'The persistence of social signatures in human communication', was conducted by an international team that included Dr Reed-Tsochas and Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford, Dr Sam Roberts from the University of Chester in the UK, and Dr Jari Saramäki from the Aalto University, Finland, and is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today. It combined survey data and detailed data from mobile phone call records that were used to track changes in the communication networks of 24 students in the UK over 18 months as they made the transition from school to university or work.

At the beginning of the study, researchers 'ranked' members of each participant's social network (friends and family) according to emotional closeness. They discovered that, in all cases, a small number of top-ranked, emotionally close people received a disproportionately large fraction of calls.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.

      The Helper Discord

      Members online

      No members online now.

      Affiliates

      Hive Workshop NUON Dome World Editor Tutorials

      Network Sponsors

      Apex Steel Pipe - Buys and sells Steel Pipe.
      Top