Our own romantic network has occasionally reached more than 80 people, which is more than halfway to Dunbar's number. A serious approach to our whole network as "polyfamily" would require us to neglect many other important relationships in our lives (birth families, relatives, work colleagues, friends, neighbors), just to remain connected to our networks. For an introvert, especially, even the number of first-degree metamours a person might have could exceed her total number of close, lifelong friends.
