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
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