There is, apparently, an optimum number of friends one can / should have. While the average social circle numbers 150 friends, the average core group is of 5 really close friends. Sounds about right: this is certainly the dynamic of the US comedy show, which perhaps owed its phenomenal success to the fact that it was both identificatory - we recognised ourselves in it, we certainly were able to spot the 'Chandler' and 'Monica' types in our group - and aspirational - we wanted to be them, hence the rise of Starbucks et al!
Interesting, though, to look at how social networking is bending and altering the definition of 'friendship'. Adding a friend on Facebook prompts the question, 'How do you know this person?', a question that could be getting harder to answer as Facebook looks to increase it's current limit of 5000 friends per user profile. Meanwhile, on Twitter, Stephen Fry exceeded 100,000 followers in February this year ... Some wise words from Techipeida on social media etiquette (hat tip to B).
Love the guy in the article who operates a 'on in, one out' friending policy: wonder what happened to the cause the vacancy? And was his generous offer taken up?
