How many Facebook friends is too many?

How many Facebook friends is too many? The answer may surprise you. In a post on social media, Jay Deragon says this: "According to Oxford University’s professor of evolutionary anthropology, Robin Dunbar, after you have amassed 150 friends on Facebook, any more are meaningless because the human brain can only remember 150 meaningful relationships anyway." The rule of 150 has also been documented in Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point.

Should you "unfriend" people until you pare your friends roster down to 150? I don't think so. However, Deragon challenges us to think about meaning and meaninglessness when it comes to social networking and how we do relationships.

Comments

  1. D. MeinkeNovember 22, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    Well, I dont have a problem having more than 150 friends. The REAL question is: "How many farmville, yoyoville, whatEVERville postings is too many and will DRIVE YOUR FRIENDS AWAY?" When I cannot see what my friends are doing because their posts get lost amid a sea of whateverville postings from the same person...its time to UNsubscribe!

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