Can you MENTALLY handle your Facebook friends?

From two articles I stumbled upon this weekend, a UK Times article and a Mashable blog entry, my brain is spinning. The articles reference research by Robin Dunbar, relating to how we socially maintain friendships. I've considered, for a while now, creating an open invitation for no-hard-feelings unfriending from Facebook. I'm fascinated by the idea of making yourself vulnerable to the potential dismissal of life long to fleeting relationships via this social network. It would be odd to see who chooses to break the tie. Will it be mutually understood? Will my sister still want to be my FFriend? Thinking about how you'd feel if someone removed a connection to you, what goes through your head? It's a self esteem cliff for some people. It's validation for others (or a misread sign that their friends ignore them anyway.)

From the Sun article:
"WE may be able to amass 5,000 friends on Facebook but humans’ brains are capable of managing a maximum of only 150 friendships, a study has found.

Robin Dunbar, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, has conducted research revealing that while social networking sites allow us to maintain more relationships, the number of meaningful friendships is the same as it has been throughout history.

Dunbar developed a theory known as “Dunbar’s number” in the 1990s which claimed that the size of our neocortex — the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language — limits us to managing social circles of around 150 friends, no matter how sociable we are.

These are relationships in which a person knows how each friend relates to every other friend. They are people you care about and contact at least once a year.

He found that people tended to self-organise in groups of around 150 because social cohesion begins to deteriorate as groups become larger."

I challenge Dunbar's Number as it appears he has never been associated with a marching band (in 4 years, you can interact socially, creating life long friendships with over 600 people...). It intrigues me to ponder what life would be like if I focused only on maintaining relationships with 150 people. Currently I have 1,165 Facebook friends (wait- [confirm] 1,166), 12 Twitter accounts that I maintain, 7 blogs, 2 Flickr accounts, several job finder accounts, a LinkedIn profile and a handful of other media and communication accounts.

Then, there's the fact that not all FFriends are "friends" in the true sense. That woman you met at a business conference or the guy you went to grade school with that found you 2 years ago are not necessarily Active friends. Aquaintances, family, and networking connections come into play as you consider who makes up your social circle in online networking sites.

What do you think? What would an open invitation for your connections to unfriend you mean to you? Would you participate in someone else's open invitation? What have you done in the past when you feel no longer connected to an online relationship?

Thanks for your thoughts- I'll post updates as my brain evolves.

Other interesting correlations: Facebook hurts test scores

Some days...

"Some days, it's not even worth chewing through the restraints."
That was my week. That sums it up. It's been rough for reasons I can't even begin to divulge publicly online, at least not this week. I had personal and professional challenges, defeats, disappointments, harassment, tedium, inspiration and a swallow (or several) of booze the likes of which I've never experienced in such a combination. My husband shared similar mixed feelings for said week. My friends are an invaluable resource of unique support. My supervisor and a few coworkers, along with the hubby, talked me off the ledge, all the while telling me my behavior was justified. Family, work and the time of year convinced me that the restraints felt safe for a day or two. I think I'll be up to chewing away again next week. This 3 day weekend was timed perfectly.