Persistence of social signatures in human communication

The social network maintained by a focal individual, or ego, is intrinsically dynamic and typically exhibits some turnover in membership over time as personal circumstances change. However, the consequences of such changes on the distribution of an ego’s network ties are not well understood. Here we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2014-01, Vol.111 (3), p.942-947
Main Authors: Saramäki, Jari, Leicht, E. A., López, Eduardo, Roberts, Sam G. B., Reed-Tsochas, Felix, Dunbar, Robin I. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Development
Cell Phone
Cell phones
Communication
Communication patterns
Ego
Emotional intimacy
Emotions
Female
Friendship
Humans
Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal Relations
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Models, Statistical
Multilevel models
Personal relationships
Physical Sciences
Questionnaires
Regression Analysis
Signatures
Social evolution
Social networking
Social networks
Social Sciences
Social Support
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires
Time signatures
United Kingdom
Universities
Young Adult
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Summary:The social network maintained by a focal individual, or ego, is intrinsically dynamic and typically exhibits some turnover in membership over time as personal circumstances change. However, the consequences of such changes on the distribution of an ego’s network ties are not well understood. Here we use a unique 18-mo dataset that combines mobile phone calls and survey data to track changes in the ego networks and communication patterns of students making the transition from school to university or work. Our analysis reveals that individuals display a distinctive and robust social signature, captured by how interactions are distributed across different alters. Notably, for a given ego, these social signatures tend to persist over time, despite considerable turnover in the identity of alters in the ego network. Thus, as new network members are added, some old network members either are replaced or receive fewer calls, preserving the overall distribution of calls across network members. This is likely to reflect the consequences of finite resources such as the time available for communication, the cognitive and emotional effort required to sustain close relationships, and the ability to make emotional investments.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1308540110