Dunbar gets networked

The Economist had a superb article (Feb. 28th) on the Dunbar number.

For those unfamiliar with Dunbar, it’s the theoretical maximum number of people that humans can have real relationships with. (See Wikipedia article.)

I’ve always postulated that the Dunbar number would increase with the help of a database to augment our cognitive skills and help us remember. For many years, the database that worked for me was ACT! While I was raising capital for my start-up in the last 90s, I would input memory triggers of conversations I had along with the dates and times that they took place. Most importantly, I would add my friend’s kids names since it is hard enough for me to remember their name, let alone their offspring.

Now, social networks are helping us all remember our relationships. So, does the Dunbar number increase?

According to research done by the The Economist, the answer is: not exactly.

The average number of friends on Facebook is 120 – slightly less than Dunbar, but appropriate since Facebook is not representative of 100% of the population. Where the research gets interesting is how we communicate. People with 120 friends generally respond to 7 of their friends’ postings (men) or 10 of them (women). But people with 500 or so friends respond to 17 (men) or 26 (women) of their friends’ postings.

The author’s conclusion?

The number of casual contacts goes up when using a database, but the number of core friends remains the same.

Read the full article.

How is social networking helping – or hindering – the way you manage your relationships with contacts and friends?