Your Facebook friends are real after all

You may have 800 so-called friends online, but how many of them are really your buddies in the real world? Photo / Thinkstock

It's become a familiar stick to beat Facebook users with: You may have 800 so-called friends online, but how many of them are really your buddies in the real world?

According to scientists, probably quite a lot.

Researchers at University College London found a link between the number of virtual friends a person has and the size of parts of their brain associated with social skills.

Brain scans showed it increases the size of the amygdala, linked to emotional response.

Previous tests have shown this region is also bigger in those with many real-life friends.

Volunteers were also quizzed on how many people they would invite to a party or send a birthday message to.

Professor Geraint Rees said: "Our findings support the idea most Facebook users use the site to reinforce existing relationships."

However, Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg, reader in clinical neurology at Oxford University, said: "Perhaps the number of Facebook friends is more strongly related to how much time you spend on the internet."

- DAILY MAIL