Introduction
Every year there are countless students looking for job opportunities as they are finishing up their studies. LinkedIn, being one of the most popular networking platform, has recently published a study testing a social-scientific theory known as the “strength of weak ties” with surprising findings that would enable the platform to more effectively help people on their job search.
Research
Between 2015 – 2019, researchers from LinkedIn, Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a study by analyzing the data of over 20 million LinkedIn users to test a theory called the strength of weak ties, which demonstrates and draws conclusions by applying the triadic closure property we have learned in class. The theory from Stanford professor Mark Granovetter states that it’s actually weak ties that can lead people to better job opportunities not found in their strong ties network. Here, weak ties are defined as friends of friends and strong ties are immediate colleagues.
By using a technique known as A/B testing, researchers conducted multiple large-scale randomized experiments on LinkedIn’s “People You May Know” algorithm, which suggests potential new and helpful connections to users. The experiments use the algorithm to offer certain users close or not-so-close people recommendations and analyze the new job opportunities that came out of the two billion new connections. The results of the study surprisingly confirmed the theory. Acquaintances are more valuable sources of job opportunities since strong ties can sometimes be too confining to small and well-defined groups. Also, it is not the weakest ties but moderately weak ties, which are the most helpful for employment opportunities.
Conclusion
By applying the findings from this research, LinkedIn is now able to design their platform by optimizing their recommendation algorithms to more effectively help its members find better and more job opportunities and ultimately, achieve social and economic mobility.
Sources
- Wong, K. (2022, September 26). LinkedIn ran undisclosed social experiments on 20 million users for years to study job success. USA Today. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/09/25/linkedin-ran-secret-social-experiments-on-20-million-users/8115007001/
- Concept 4: Job opportunities and Granovetter’s strength of weak ties, the Reliants Project. THE RELIANTS PROJECT. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.reliantsproject.com/2020/06/10/concept-4-job-opportunities-and-granovetters-strength-of-weak-ties/