63. The "Strong Tie" Group Size Limit is 150 People

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Robin Dunbar studied different species to see if there was a relationship between the size of their neocortex and the number of stable relationships in a social group. Dunbar defines these relationships as "one where you know who each person is and you know how each person relates to every other person in the group." From his results he then calculated the size limit for humans to be 150. To back up his claim, he began looking at the size of different communities from different geographic areas, cultures and time frames starting as far back as 250,000 years ago

In the modern world of social media, 150 seems pretty low and some critics say that it is the "weak ties" (those that don't require you to know everyone else in the group and are not based on physical proximity) are becoming more important both for networking and diversity's sake.

What Does This Mean For Us?

Keep in mind that people who don't feel like they have their tribe of strong ties nearby will feel isolated and stressed.

When you are designing a product that relies on or includes social connection, figure out whether it is about strong ties or weak ties.

If for strong ties you'll want to make it possible for people to interact and know each other and build in some amount of physical proximity.

If for weak ties you won't need to rely on direct communication between everyone or physical proximity