Estimating the Strength of Ties in Communication Networks with a Small Number of Users

An accurate method of estimating the tie strengths of mobile phone users will enable the development of socially-aware mobile applications. The strength of ties between mobile phone users can be estimated for large numbers of users by using the aggregated call duration as a proxy for tie strength. This paper investigates appropriate proxies for tie strength in a network of less than one hundred people. We find that aggregated call duration is a reasonable proxy for tie strength for a small number of users, as is total call count, and that aggregated proximity duration and total proximity count are also approximate proxies for tie strength.