I’ve been reading and hearing a lot of chatter about how many “friends” people have.  Technology has certainly expanded our networks, but it hasn’t improved the relationships we have like back in the “old days”. You know, back when you would actually call people next door, or when long distance phone calls or receiving a posted letter were a big deal. With today’s technologies, you can instantly send a message to someone on the other side of the globe, and in a heartbeat get a response – often for free.

Robin Dunbar, a British anthropologist, postulated that the typical human being could only have 150 friends. After that, we just aren’t cognitively organized to handle and track additional people. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter fly in the face of Dunbar’s number. They put hundreds or thousands of friendlies in front of us, people we would have lost touch with if it weren’t for the fact that they keep digitally reappearing.

Some people are trying to flout Dunbar’s number, and become connected and actual friends with tens of thousands of people at once – and surprise surprise, you just can’t do that. You might be able to stretch to 200 or 400, but there is no way you can have meaningful relationships with a thousand people.

So, how many “friends” do you really have?