How many Facebook friends do you have?
I have 1,226 friends to date but only 150 of them are meaningful, according to a new study by Robin Dunbar. The Oxford University Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology will soon publish his research, which reinforces his earlier theory that an individual can only manage up to 150 social relationships.
In a Times interview, Dunbar says, “The interesting thing is that you can have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, you see people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world. People obviously like the kudos of having hundreds of friends but the reality is that they’re unlikely to be bigger than anyone else’s.”
In the same interview, Dunbar also points out that gender plays a key factor: “There is a big sex difference though … girls are much better at maintaining relationships just by talking to each other. Boys need to do physical stuff together.”
For social marketing experts, Dunbar’s latest research is important to note – while social media has effected a number of behavioral changes, Dunbar’s numbers reinforces that certain social habits and capabilities remain constant.
Do you think social media networks have greatly changed the way you establish and maintain relationships with people? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below or ping me on Twitter!
i think internets allow us to increase Dunbar’s number…maybe we are all becoming girls?
http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2008/10/regressive-expressions-or-please-dont-use-twitter-like-a-billboard.html
Dunbar’s point is true but also obvious – there is some kind of scaling thing happening – closeness = more interaction.
The question becomes what does ‘friend’ mean and does it imply the same as ‘relationship’?
If the definition of “friend” and “relationship” is evolving, how would you define these today? Would you consider a strictly Facebook friend – someone you don’t know IRL – an actual friend you have a relationship with?