At first I was surprised the economist would talk about the networking stack, but this is about social networking. The introverts bit makes much more sense.
Regarding the article it says "because they bring you new information, more infrequent and distant relationships (or “weak ties”) are more useful than close contacts." Mark Granovetter studied that in 1973 in The Strength of Weak Ties.
Regarding the article it says "because they bring you new information, more infrequent and distant relationships (or “weak ties”) are more useful than close contacts." Mark Granovetter studied that in 1973 in The Strength of Weak Ties.