How many close friends do you have?

In an era of exploding social networks, researchers at Cornell University were somewhat surprised to learn that Americans report fewer close friends than they did a generation ago.  How many?  On average, the researchers report, Americans now say that they have 2.03 friends in their "discussion network." In a similar study in 1985, the average was closer to 3.  

In all, 2,000 adults were asked to name the people with whom they had “discussed important matters” in the past six months -- 29% named more than two people, 18% listed two, 48% listed only one person and 4% said they had not shared important information with anyone.  Interestingly, women and those with a higher level of education named the fewest friends.

Why would our friend pool diminish, in the face of ever expanding social networks?  Researchers said that they would leave it to others to answer this important question, but study author and sociology professor Matthew Brashears speculated that the reason our discussion network has diminished may simply have to do with how we currently define what a close friend is.  Said Brashears, quoted in The Cornell Sun: “We were skeptical of the dramatic change,” but he did acknowledge that “increased connectivity has not translated into an increase in the number of close confidantes.” In addition to these findings, Brashears found that American social networks are “not necessarily increasing in diversity, even though Americans now interact with people abroad via technology,” according to the Sun.

In a related study, Prof. Keith Hampton from the University of Pennsylvania obtained similar results, in his work with the Pew Research Center. Said the Sun, summarizing Hampton's findings: “He predicted that increasing economic prosperity may cause declines in close social ties. . . . In his research, Hampton studied social networks in other countries and found that development and implementation of social institutions diminish the dependency on a social network.”