Familiar stranger

A familiar stranger is an individual who is recognized from regular activities, but with whom one does not interact. First identified by Stanley Milgram in the 1972 paper The Familiar Stranger: An Aspect of Urban Anonymity, It has become an increasingly popular concept in research about social network;

Somebody who is seen observed repetitively, but with whom one does not otherwise communicate, is an example of a familiar stranger; it is a 'visual but not verbal" relationship in which both parties maintain anonymity. These are people who aren't totally unknown to us, but aren't acquaintances either. Such individuals meet in an unfamiliar setting, for example while travelling, they are more likely to introduce themselves than would be perfect strangers, as they have a background of shared experiences.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) published an article which analyzed the phenomenon of familiar strangers, and noted the social implication of metropolitan patterns due to daily encounters. It notes that familiar strangers are a result of an individual's encounter capability which is rooted in daily, behavioral regularity. Findings suggested that these repeated encounters established a strong connection over time, resulting in a large and imperceptible, small world contact network across the metropolitan area. Furthermore, by deriving the specific encounter pattern and identifying this large-scale contact network play a large role in understanding these social acquaintances and collective human behaviors.

Intimate Stranger

Intimate Stranger may refer to:

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