This is the first time I have posted a blog because a fellow tweeter tweeted me and asked me to post about a tweet I tweeted and he read. Anyways….
My tweet was…. “so what you have 5k fb friend and 500k twitter followers… you only have 150 friends http://bit.ly/qaqcU”
The original article “What’s the ideal number of friends” and it quotes anthropologist Robin Dunbar who says
“The average number is about 150…It’s the number of people that you know as persons and you know how they fit into your social world and they know how you fit into theirs. They are a group of people to which you have an obligation of friendship.”
My friend said
can you blog about the implications of your last tweet in terms of being a witness to those around you and how the gospel spreads? kthxbye
So, my thoughts are this.
If 150 is the average number of people that are “real friends” – people who you are in regular contact with and share life with on some level – but you have 40-600 facebook friends or 100-100,000 twitter friends, what difference does it make ? The 150 that you share life with are the ones that you will have the greatest impact on / influence with.
Now lets think about this…. how are you using facebook or twitter to share the gospel ? I see thousands of people on facebook and twitter marketing “seo”, “marketing 101″,” making money using gmail”… so I see that the world is using twitter to share what they think is “good news”. But how are we leveraging this massive place of sharing ideas with the Greatest Story Ever Told ?
I am sure some people that read this will think that them being a follower of Christ and just being on facebook/twitter is enough… but is it ? I know this will sound cheesy but…what do you think Jesus would do if facebook / twitter was around 2k years ago? Do you think He would have even messed with them ? Or would he have been the one with 1 billion followers on twitter ?
Let’s think about this one together. As I gather my own thoughts, let me know what you think.
March 5th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Fascinating blog post! Here’s my two cents… I have not read the original article, but it seems safe to assume that the 150 obligated friends is a number that is constantly evolving. People you meet and become friends with jump into the top 150 and some drop out as they move away in “friend” proximity for one reason or another.
Technology has taught us that with 150 you can reach a million plus. With 150 you can reach millions online or offline. On another popular “web 2.0/social media” website I have 115 connections. From 115 connections I have 1,130,700 people in my network. Meaning I have one million+ people that are a friend of a friend. If I influence my evolving 150 then they will have an opportunity to influence their evolving 150 and so on.
Some people have greater followings and platforms for influence. I believe our fingers typing on a computer should be used in the same way we use our tongue – to glorify God and bring people to the saving grace of Jesus.
Proverbs 22:11 He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.
March 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am
So, I’ve yet to join the Twitter world, but I have been a long-time Facebook follower and yeah… my friend count does ten to grow exponentially. Are they all my BEST of buddies… no, but as Craig mentioned there is a God-given “sphere of influence” to which one belongs and yes, what you do with that influence is crucial.
Do I like updating my friends, acquaintances and neighbors on the on goings of my world and vice-versa… sure! But what I love is when a friend (past/present – short or long term) sends me a message asking me what my singing group is about (which is a Christian group) or ask me about my church because they want to get re-connected, or see photos of me with my small group or friends from church doing life together or out in the community serving.
I unfortunately am not able to easily discard relationships built, which is why I am grateful for tools like these because I think it can be a great device for evangelism and always leave an open-door opportunity for ministry!