Honestly, keeping in touch with people is not a forte of the author's. Despite having thousands of people that he acquainted (some deeply, many quite briefly and superficially) accumulated as friends on Facebook, he not only barely speak to any of them, but do not even bother to check up on what they share with their friends publicly. The resulting lack of information is so extensive that he is even completely ignorant of big life events of theirs, like weddings, birth of children, moving to a different country, or changing jobs. He can only hope that they know more about his current developments.
In sociology, there is an idea that a person's social networks comes in variety of depth and formats. Obviously family members, romantic partners, and close friends make up the bulk of a person's active networks, the first people to go to when in need of financial help, psychological support, and just plain companionship as people explore the physical world around them. But beneath those perhaps a dozen people of the most active kind are hundreds of others in more passive, latent networks where frequent contact is just not so common.
It does not mean that these latent contacts are less valuable to the person, however. Because of the sheer number of such contacts, they come from a much bigger variety of social and professional circles, as compared to people from active networks. While those from active networks may generally come from similar sociocultural background, having been brought up in the same households, neighborhoods, and schools, those who are more infrequently contacted tend to be known from many different circumstances, from different jobs, meetings, or even just on the road.
The diversity of backgrounds mean that a person who tap into the more passive side of his or her network would be rewarded with many more different options and paths of human interactions in ways that the dozen closest people cannot provide. In the most practical terms, looking for jobs and partnerships in professional ways can be much more fruitful if all of those hundreds of people can be sorted out, managed, and associated with in ways that can ensure their resources can be utilized as one's own. Surely the best networkers use such a structured method.
Yet, for most people out there, the latent networks of hundreds of casual acquaintances remain, well, just latent. People have limited energy and immediate incentive to actively keep in touch with hundreds of people, so the contacts just slip. Perhaps a few years when first met, there would have been more communications, but as lives drift apart and common interests become fewer and fewer, there simply are not enough topics to keep conversations going. Eventually people just stop talking, and that means they do not even keep abreast of what happens in each other's lives.
But given the value latent networks have for professional and other reasons, it would make more sense to actively keep in touch. And modern technology really does offer more tools to do so. People might change their street addresses and phone numbers, but messenger profiles and email addresses remain constant. Facebook and LinkedIn allow thousands of people to be searched through, based on their demographic backgrounds, current locations, as well as personal, academic, and professional interests. The advent of cheap flights on low-cost airlines even made face-to-face meetings more accessible to many more people.
Some people have really took advantage of such technological advancements to expand the boundaries of their active networks. No longer is the number of people that can be frequently contacted be limited to a dozen or so. Even if there are no frequent messaging and chats, technology has enabled latent networks to remain relevant by allowing for streams of information about others to flow in automatically, without the need to pester each person for the information. Suh information becomes the basis for renewed contact when those latent networks become more active when needs arise in the future.
With such communication technology's widespread availability and often completely free access, people should all be learning how to better manage their own social networks better. More contacts with more people can be had, allowing for better usage of diverse resources that come with those acquaintances. It would be interesting to see emergence of services and more technology-based products that teach people how to keep up with hundreds of people at one. When such services and products emerge, even lazy people like the author can find themselves more productively social.
In sociology, there is an idea that a person's social networks comes in variety of depth and formats. Obviously family members, romantic partners, and close friends make up the bulk of a person's active networks, the first people to go to when in need of financial help, psychological support, and just plain companionship as people explore the physical world around them. But beneath those perhaps a dozen people of the most active kind are hundreds of others in more passive, latent networks where frequent contact is just not so common.
It does not mean that these latent contacts are less valuable to the person, however. Because of the sheer number of such contacts, they come from a much bigger variety of social and professional circles, as compared to people from active networks. While those from active networks may generally come from similar sociocultural background, having been brought up in the same households, neighborhoods, and schools, those who are more infrequently contacted tend to be known from many different circumstances, from different jobs, meetings, or even just on the road.
The diversity of backgrounds mean that a person who tap into the more passive side of his or her network would be rewarded with many more different options and paths of human interactions in ways that the dozen closest people cannot provide. In the most practical terms, looking for jobs and partnerships in professional ways can be much more fruitful if all of those hundreds of people can be sorted out, managed, and associated with in ways that can ensure their resources can be utilized as one's own. Surely the best networkers use such a structured method.
Yet, for most people out there, the latent networks of hundreds of casual acquaintances remain, well, just latent. People have limited energy and immediate incentive to actively keep in touch with hundreds of people, so the contacts just slip. Perhaps a few years when first met, there would have been more communications, but as lives drift apart and common interests become fewer and fewer, there simply are not enough topics to keep conversations going. Eventually people just stop talking, and that means they do not even keep abreast of what happens in each other's lives.
But given the value latent networks have for professional and other reasons, it would make more sense to actively keep in touch. And modern technology really does offer more tools to do so. People might change their street addresses and phone numbers, but messenger profiles and email addresses remain constant. Facebook and LinkedIn allow thousands of people to be searched through, based on their demographic backgrounds, current locations, as well as personal, academic, and professional interests. The advent of cheap flights on low-cost airlines even made face-to-face meetings more accessible to many more people.
Some people have really took advantage of such technological advancements to expand the boundaries of their active networks. No longer is the number of people that can be frequently contacted be limited to a dozen or so. Even if there are no frequent messaging and chats, technology has enabled latent networks to remain relevant by allowing for streams of information about others to flow in automatically, without the need to pester each person for the information. Suh information becomes the basis for renewed contact when those latent networks become more active when needs arise in the future.
With such communication technology's widespread availability and often completely free access, people should all be learning how to better manage their own social networks better. More contacts with more people can be had, allowing for better usage of diverse resources that come with those acquaintances. It would be interesting to see emergence of services and more technology-based products that teach people how to keep up with hundreds of people at one. When such services and products emerge, even lazy people like the author can find themselves more productively social.
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