Connectivity is the key process that characterizes the structural and functional properties of social networks. Contrary to the perception of ever-growing connectivity, ties are also de-activated at large scale. By using a large longitudinal communication dataset (≈19 months, ≈20 million people) we study the strategies behind each individual’s strategy to create and destroy ties. We observe that individuals exhibit a finite communication capacity, which limits the number of ties they can maintain active in time. Separating communication capacity from activity reveals a diverse range of tie activation strategies, from stable to exploratory. We found that those social strategies depend on age, gender and geographical location of the individual. Finally, by using information diffusion models we show that social strategies have a moderate role on information awareness. Our results provide conclusive evidence about human strategies in social networks but also about the divergence between the static and dynamic characterizations of human interactions.