How Many Friends is Too Many Friends?
This UK Times article caught my attention today - according to studies in the 90s by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, the cognitive limit for friendships is 150 friends. His early studies of traffic on social networks show that the number hasn't increased even as our online social groups have grown.
I'd imagine the definition for the category of "friend" is in flux, and that we are developing new types of relationships that didn't exist 20 years ago when Dunbar's original work was published. I know I contact more than 150 of my Facebook each year, and many of my Twitter contacts daily. Do you think you fit into Dunbar's 150 friend mold? We'll have to wait until later in the year to read Dunbar's full published study, but what do you think of the preliminary findings?






