Previous research in computer-mediated communication's effect on social networks has generated questions about the role of weak ties in what was assumed to be a unique affordance of strong ties-obtaining effective social support. Eighty-eight college students completed a questionnaire based on their most recent Facebook status updates and the comments and likes those updates generated. Items queried participants' perception of each response as well as the participants' relationships characteristics with the responder. Strong ties were perceived to have significantly closer relationships and provided significant social support. However, weak tie relationships were more numerous than strong ties and were perceived by participants to provide social support that was equally significant. While the use of Facebook did not erode the importance of strong ties, this study found that traditional understandings of weak ties do not account for the strong social support afforded by weak tie relationships when mediated through social network sites.

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This study tested the degree to which self-disclosure mediates the effects of gender orientation and homophobia on relational satisfaction, closeness, and commitment in men's same-sex friendships. Participants included 211 men from the southwest region of the US, who reported on either geographically close (n ¼ 107) or long distance same-sex friendships (n ¼ 104). Results indicated that self-disclosure mediates the positive effect of femininity on satisfaction, closeness, and commitment in men's same-sex friendships. Self-disclosure also mediates the negative, indirect effects of homophobia on all three relational outcomes. Tests of structural invariance provided no evidence to suggest that the indirect effects of femininity and homophobia on all three relational outcomes vary as a function of geographic distance.

This study used a multi-level analysis to gain a comprehensive understanding of work team socialization as a process that extends beyond work team and organizational boundaries. Findings, based on interviews of 27 IT employees organized into teams, reaffirmed some previous research on newcomer information seeking, but provided a more complex understanding of information seeking during socialization by identifying the importance of nexus or overlap with other internal and external groups. Nexus 1 included cross-functional meetings, as well as external workshops and conferences involving industry peers. Individual and group communication with members of internal and external groups helped employees negotiate and learn their roles as well as led to changes in their understanding of their team and organization. This multi-level analysis identified how individual, group, internal organizational communication, and extra-organizational communication all contribute to the process of socialization for team members.

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