Alasdair Wilkins writing in io9.com:
Our maximum number of friends is actually determined by the size of our brains. Dunbar’s number says 150 friends is about the human limit, and that’s been true throughout history. Can human evolution withstand the insanity of social networking?….
Dunbar examined human social groupings throughout history, and he kept coming back to that 150 number. It’s the number of people who lived in ancient Neolithic farming villages, the basic unit size for the armies of both ancient Rome and modern times, and the maximum size of most nomadic tribes. Now, as Dunbar himself is quick to point out, this doesn’t describe every possible social grouping. Rather, this describes groups that have a very strong incentive to remain together….
And just what was this Twitter saturation point? Why, somewhere between 100 and 200 people, of course. Even with all the tools of the digital age, people couldn’t get past the Dunbar number…
