People who work together or volunteer for community service are called Secondary Groups, or people we associate with on the basis of a given task. They may include some friends, but not all are part of a person's primary group.
The smallest group is called a dyad. It only includes two members, and is fundamentally unstable, because when one person leaves, it is no longer a group because it consists of only one person. However, dyads are also the most intimate of groups and are very important.
Family is part of a person's primary group. A primary group is made up of people who have the most influence on a person. Primary groups are face to face, generally have greater cooperation and deeper feelings of belonging to the group.
A Triad is the second smallest group and is made of three people. It is more stable than a dyad because when one person leaves, it is still considered a group. It also allows for mediation within the group. The pattern of groups continues: the larger they become, the more stable they are, but intimacy continues to decline when more people are added.
An Aggregate is a collection of people who share a physical location but do not have lasting social relations. Examples of this are people taking the city bus, on an airplane, or other way of travel. An aggregate is not considered a group because the people may not identify with each other or interact with each other at all.
Anomie is a decline in social engagement. Our current society is increasing in anomie, which is bad for society and the individual. This leads to a paradox that we are experiencing today: we are more connected but more isolated than ever before. Because of the technology and social networking that is so popular right now, we are connected to more people but distracted from the importance of face-to-face interaction.
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