Dunbar's Number- MD and relationships

[Hermits United]

I was talking a friend recently and he mentioned something called Dunbar's number. Basically it is a limit on the number of people we can be emotionally invested in. Here's a video that explains it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLFce5uZ3I

He also mentioned that the number can include fictional characters. So I was just wondering how that relates to MD because a lot of us are incredibly emotionally invested in our characters and that could potentially limit the number of real world relationships we could have. Also this number doesn't just apply to friends it applies to anyone we can empathise with. Our inner circle so to speak contains about 5. The people in our circles fluctuate as people go in and out of our lives. So I was wondering if people felt that DDing impacts on their ability to connect with other people/the amount of people they can connect with?

[Rashomon Effect]

I've heard of Dunbar's number. I read about it recently in an article on Neanderthals. Dunbar theorized that Neanderthals, due to limited development of their frontal lobes, "could only maintain a social group size of around 115 individuals, rather than the 150 that we manage."  He believes that is why they didn't survive.  He believes Neanderthals were less able to cope with the difficulties of their harsh environments because they had fewer friends to help them out in times of need.

If I understand correctly, that applies to online friends too. I think you make a very good point. I think online friends and real life friends are more beneficial than the daydream friends. The daydream characters can be just a bunch of yes men/women/characters who are saying what the person wants to hear.  Not entirely, but it is easy for them to slide into that role.