Voices: ‘150 friends sounds like a nightmarish full-time job’: Readers weigh in on the value of true friendship

Buddy up: Friendships naturally split into different tiers of closeness - (Getty/iStock)

Helen Coffey’s exploration of Dunbar’s Number – the idea that humans can only maintain around 150 meaningful friendships – struck a chord with Independent readers.

Coffey’s piece sparked thoughtful reflections on how friendship can change with age and circumstance. Many agreed that social media inflates the appearance of connection, and that true friendship is about quality, not quantity.