According to a recent survey, you probably have about the same size friend network as you did seven years ago. But about half of those friend are likely different people.
The survey contained questions such as: Who do you talk with, regarding personal issues? Who helps you with DIY in your home? Who do you pop by to see? Where did you get to know that person? And where do you meet that person now?
The results showed that personal network sizes remained stable, but that many members of the network were new. About 30 percent of discussion partners and practical helpers had the same position in a typical subject’s network seven years later. And only 48 percent were still part of the network. This finding goes against previous research which had showed that social network sizes are shrinking.
Interesting. This could not be more distinct from my personal experience. I made about five friends in kindergarten. Added a couple more buddies and Rabbi in junior high. And scored a few cats, a shrink who refuses to acknowledge any of my symptoms, a wife (and her crew) and a guy named Bob in adulthood. Aside from that, the friend group has remained alarmingly stable.
And if Bob fails to read this post, he’s out.
