The persistence of social signatures in human communication

TL;DR

This study shows that individuals maintain a consistent pattern in how they distribute communication efforts across their social network over time, despite changes in specific contacts.

Contribution

It demonstrates that social signatures in communication are robust and persist over time, even with significant turnover in network members.

Findings

Social signatures are distinctive and stable over 18 months.

Network turnover does not alter the overall distribution pattern.

Communication resources influence social signature persistence.

Abstract

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-month data set 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 are either 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.