While it’s cool to show off that you have hundreds or even thousands of Facebook friends, the fact remains that the number is absolutely meaningless. Robin Dunbar, the Oxford Professor behind the original Dunbar number theory, is working on a new study to see if social networks have increased the size of our personal networks (as we postulated last June). The findings show that despite having numerous Facebook friends, “people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world”.
While the findings aren’t exactly surprising, as it’s pretty well known that individuals don’t have the time to manage hundreds or thousands of friends, that Dunbar is the source of the new findings makes this significant. Another interesting finding was gender related: “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.”
There didn’t appear to be a distinction between age groups, however I’d guess that the soon to be released Dunbar report will have more information about various segments of the population. While Facebook users love to brag about the number of friends they have, or use the number as a source of confidence, the study confirms that the number is pretty much insignificant.
If you find that maintaining numerous relationships can be stressful, it’s not a personal problem. The fact is that your brain simply can’t manage an excessive number of relationships. So when your friend starts bragging to you about how many Facebook friends they have, just tell them that Dunbar (an Oxford professor) says their friend count doesn’t matter at all.
Haha but on Twitter they REALLY aren’t real because they’re spammers
They are real. For me it’s about getting the connection established on Facebook, should something come up or we want to communicate. Some folks have very active accounts while others only check in every so often. I’m very particular about who I add as a friend, so when we do chat, it’s meaningful. Same goes for Twitter and 150 is my target for # of people I follow.
Great article! I think part of the reason facebook use continues to grow is the allure of being able to use it as a means of keeping in touch with old classmates, former coworkers, and people we generally don’t see on a day to day basis. It’s a means to nurture the relationships outside our circles, it’s more distant but at the same time very open.
I don’t know how many times i’ve run into old friends standing in line for coffee or at the market, and I’ve been able to ask them about their most current life events, soley because I follow along with their updates on facebook.
I’d rather decide the value of my number for myself, thank you.
I wonder why all these “studies” weren’t done based on the number of people listed in one’s old-fashioned handwritten address book. I’ve known people for my entire life (which includes a good 30 years pre-Facebook) who’ve claimed hundreds of “friends” and “contacts.”
I also wholly disagree with the gender specification. I’m a woman, the majority of my Facebook friends are men (single AND married) and I’ve kept up a strong, healthy level of communication with them just through writing. I find it’s other women who are wary of each other if there isn’t “more.”
Mine are real. I’m particular about who I send and accept requests from, and I maintain relations with those people. Sorry some people don’t know how to be friends.
Even if Dunbar’s Number is accepted as perfectly true, that does not mean that contact/friend/follower #151, 152, and so forth have no value. It is not a dichotomy. They may or may not have value, depending on a number of factors, and the ones that do have value have less than the first “primary” 150, but it is real and finite, and it varies within the 151+ (“extra-Dunbar”) group.
Yeah reminds me of Adam Sandlers myspace routine in the movie Funny People…lol
I think it just depends on how particular you with your network.
Well, for every friend I have on facebook,there are at least 10 friends that refuse to join facebook for the C:I:A intelligence gathering platform that it is,,,,, and if you deny that, then you are all just kidding yourselfs,,,,, and if you can keep track of your 1000 friends, maybe you should have children and then see how much your facebook friends matter,,,,,, its all irrelevant!