Path, a new social network, limits users to 50 friends

The photo-centric service, built for smart phones, is designed to help users share information only with people they trust. It launches Monday.
By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times
November 15, 2010

Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar has a famous theory that the number of people with whom one can maintain a close relationship is limited to 150 by the size of the neocortex, the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language.

The Internet has made it quicker and easier to connect with far-flung acquaintances, but Dunbar says it's impossible to overcome that basic brain programming.
With high rollers on Facebook boasting up to 5,000 "friends," digital friendship has become increasingly indiscriminate. And that keeps some people from feeling comfortable sharing the more intimate details of their lives.

That's the motivation behind Path, a San Francisco company that is offering a more exclusive social network. Path, whose service launches Monday, bills itself instead as a "personal network." the rest