Evidence of the persistence and consistency of social signatures

Abstract

Human social networks are composed of multiple dynamic and overlapping communication networks, in which membership changes over time. However, less well understood are whether and how our communication patterns are similar or different over time and across various modes of communication. Here, we use data on the frequency of phone calls, text messages, and in-person interactions to examine the social signatures of more than 700 students in a university setting. Our analysis shows that although there is substantial turnover in participants’ networks, participants’ social signatures are persistent across time and consistent across communication modes. Further, we find that communication networks that are mediated via phone calls or text messages are more stable than are in-person networks. Our results show that, likely due to limitations in cognitive and emotional resources, people maintain networks of relatively stable size and structure their communication within those networks in predictable patterns. Our findings may help with formalizing social network theories, explaining individual-level attitudes and behaviors and aggregate-level social phenomena, and making predictions and detecting abnormalities in applied fields.

Universal patterns in egocentric communication networks

“…Studies of human communication via mobile phones have shown that in line with the above picture, there is a consistent, general pattern in egocentric networks where a small number of close alters receive a disproportionately large share of communication. Data on the frequency of mobile phone calls and text messages also indicate that within this general pattern, there are clear and persistent individual differences 18 – 22 : some people repeatedly focus most of their attention on a few close relationships, while others tend to distribute communication among their alters more evenly 18 . These differences are stable in time even under high personal network turnover.…”

“…These differences are stable in time even under high personal network turnover. However, the mechanisms that generate such heterogeneity of tie strengths, its individual-level variation, and the generality of this pattern beyond mobile-phone-mediated communication, have not yet been established 14 , 22 – 24 .…”