Challenges with Excessive Social Connections

Requirements Clarification & Assessment

1. Understand the Context:

   • Business Objective: Determine if there's a business goal related to users with an unusually high number of friends. Is there a feature targeting these users, like special recommendations or content moderation?
   • User Classification: Clarify if users with significantly more friends are to be treated as potential celebrities or public figures, which might require different handling.

2. Define "Significantly More Friends":

   • Establish the average number of friends per user and identify the threshold for what constitutes a significantly higher number.
   • Consider using statistical measures like percentiles (e.g., top 1%, top 5%) instead of averages to mitigate the influence of outliers.

3. Identify Technical Problems:

   • Frontend Issues:
     • Problems rendering large friend lists on mobile and web platforms.
     • Notification overload due to excessive activity from numerous friends.
   • Backend Challenges:
     • Database scalability and performance issues.
     • Increased load on recommendation engines and algorithms.
   • Security Concerns:
     • Potential for spam or fake accounts.
     • Risk of privacy breaches with a large network.

4. Data Collection & Metrics:

   • Collect metrics on the average number of friends, friend request patterns, and user interaction data.
   • Monitor customer service reports and feedback related to technical issues.