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Salon
Salon
Science
Nicole Karlis

"Weak ties" dissipate during pandemic

Stressed business woman working from home on laptop looking worried, tired and overwhelmed. Getty Images/Nevena1987

Before the pandemic, I started a friendship with a woman named Erin.

We met on an organized women's group camping trip in Northern California, late summer in 2019. After the trip, Erin and I started a text conversation, and soon went out on a hike together. But shortly after, COVID-19 came to the San Francisco Bay Area, and I knew for certain that I probably wouldn't see Erin again until this all blew over. Though I felt that we had become casual acquaintances, we weren't close enough to stay in touch indefinitely, and the group hikes— our main connection — ended indefinitely.

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