Secondary relationships involve weak emotional ties and little personal knowledge of one another.

The differences between weak and strong ties are explained by Granovetter.

Specifically, more novel information flows to individuals through weak rather than strong ties.

The theory behind the strength of weak ties is simple, though not immediately obvious.

"There's a lot of value in weak ties," he said.

More than that, he's happy with the weak tie.

"We should ask what things spread well on weak ties," he said.

It is almost impossible to cope with the demands of modern life without weak ties.

However, weak ties can be similar to, different from, and supportive of close relations.

When a weak tie is bothersome, one can often walk away.