alt Hacker NewsThe real treasure was the weak ties we made along the way.
Jokes aside I do agree with you! The little things actually build up to the big things. Trying to insist on the big things via big-things-methods, that somehow forego the little things that comprise it all, will ironically have you miss the actual big thing. (Which might not be what you're pointing at... but I am!)
I think social graphs are often pre-disposed to capturing strong interactions only—an email chain, a trace-able back and forth (just as this), friend degree networks—not the off-hand conversations you overhead on the coffee corner, a tidbit you saw on a documentary awaiting a doctor's appointment, a faraway poster hanging on a museum wall.. you get the idea. Weak ties are everywhere! (Just not always recorded)