The term was coined by Karen L. Fingerman and further developed by Melinda Blau, who collaborated with the psychologist to explore and popularize the concept.
Yet an analysis of the broader social landscape suggests that consequential strangers provide many of the same benefits as intimates as well as many distinct and complementary functions.
[3] The academic underpinnings of the concept can be traced back to Mark Granovetter's influential 1973 paper, "The Strength of Weak Ties," in which the sociologist argued that job opportunities were most likely to come from people in the more distant reaches of one's personal network—old bosses, former coworkers, college connections.
[5] For example, one study found that African American mothers who made use of community ties as well as their families, were able to get their children into magnet schools and extracurricular programs that protected them from the dangers of inner city life.
[6] Historically, relationship scholars have concentrated almost entirely on intimates: partners, children, parents, and, to a lesser extent, best friends.
[8] Thus, over the last several decades a handful of researchers and theorists have emphasized the important role of weak ties in anchoring individuals in the larger community.
Advances in transportation and communication have always altered the ways in which people can connect—the pony express allowed the printed word to spread; the telephone made it possible to speak to distant contacts.
Various social media, such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, SMS, and networking sites like Facebook facilitate contact, coordination, and collaboration across boundaries of time and space—and at minimal cost.
They are just beyond Stanley Milgram's conception of a familiar stranger—one frequently encountered and broadly identifiable (a woman, an Asian, a cop)—but not known in the personal sense.
Over time, some consequential stranger connections become close friends or even intimate partners, while others stay at the level of acquaintanceship—for example, those "anchored" to a particular place, such as a school, gym, or train station or involved in a paid service or status hierarchies (e.g., a boss and worker).
Among factors cited are the partners' other social ties, their respective positions in the life cycle, the era in which the two are embedded, and the place—home, community, country—where their liaison unfolds.
At the other extreme are relationships that are barely blips on the social radar, such as people with adjoining season seats for a game or same-time-next-year conventioneers.
[3] Indeed, consequential strangers can provide many of the same benefits to individuals as do close relationships: companionship, a sense of belonging, and emotional support, particularly in times of crisis or emergency.
For example, women over fifty who join the Red Hat Society tend to express aspects of themselves in the company of other "Hatters" that would surprise members of their families.
One study found that college students tend to view friends as comparable to themselves, but make downward comparisons with acquaintances.
[36] A vast literature regarding work and family further suggests that difficulties with co-workers can reverberate at home in the form of anger or withdrawal.
This assortment of personal ties is one type of social network.Some individuals are better or less equipped for life's challenges and crises, not merely because of their strength or socio-economic status, but also because of the composition of their convoys.
[38] Research indicates that the best convoys are composed of a combination of intimates and consequential strangers—people in the community, service providers, acquaintances one encounters in leisure and volunteer activities.
For example, during a health crisis, medical personnel, members of support groups, and home aides might become part of an individual's convoy for a time.
Epidemiological research, which has focused on both strong and weak ties, suggests that social isolation bodes badly for psychological and physiological health.
[41][42] For example, an ongoing series of "viral challenge" studies have been conducted over the last twenty years, in which subjects are quarantined and deliberately infected with a virus.
It is like having a personal "grapevine," be it at work or in the community, that allows one to keep current, to find the best service provider, and to gain access to different types of resources by being a "bridge" between different groups.
[46][47] In a similar vein, marketing experts realize that tapping into broad social networks is an effective way to promote ideas and products.
[50] More recently, Barack Obama's successful bid for the Presidency in 2008 exemplified a similar phenomenon, aided and accelerated by technology.