Are you contemplating the number of friends you should maintain on social media platforms, especially Facebook? Well, there is no straight answer to that because it is subjective. It would vary depending on individual circumstances and personal preferences. Nobody can give you a universally applicable or definitive number. However, you can consider a few factors to decidehow many friends should you really maintain on Facebook.
Deciding factors on how many friends should you really maintain on Facebook
Quality vs. QuantityLike everything except for money, quality should always be given more preference than quantity. The same applies to the number of friends you should have. It is humanly not possible to maintain quality relationships if the quantity is more.
It makes sense to focus on quality connections than having more in terms of numbers. When you have a smaller circle of friends, you can interact and engage with them regularly and it would be more meaningful as well. Having a large number of acquaintances does not add to anything special.
Interaction and participationIf you can engage and interact with multiple people on Facebook and could keep up with their Facebook posts and updates, then well and good.
However, if you want to have meaningful conversations and engagement with posts, a smaller friend list is more manageable.
Purpose of FacebookThe purpose of having a Facebook account is to be considered while deciding on the number of friends you should have on the platform. If you use Facebook to stay in touch or exchange life updates with just family, friends, and relatives, then the account should be limited to those people only.
However, if you use Facebook for networking purposes, connecting with a wider community, or professional purposes, you can add more friends as you find suitable.
Privacy and securityElaborating on the previous point, it is to be noted that more the friends you have on Facebook, the greater the privacy and security risks. Thus, be mindful of what you share on social media especially personal information like your workplace, which school your children go to, where you are traveling to, etc.
It is better not to share any personal information if you are friends with people whom you do not know personally. Limit your friend list to individuals whom you know personally and trust. If you need Facebook for other purposes, consider creating another account. This should give you some privacy.
Researchers say that people can maintain about 150 people in their inner circle. The same applies to having friends on social media. Thus, you can check your list of friends on Facebook now and identify how many you know personally and care about. Then, you can decide to unfriend or unfollow them.Let us know in the comments section below your opinion onhow many friends should you really maintain on Facebook.