The research behind Orbit
These are the studies and ideas that shaped how Orbit thinks about friendship, attention, and care. We cite them so you can read the source and decide what you believe.
Five ideas Orbit is built around
Each card names one finding from independent research. We summarise it plainly and link to where it came from.
Robin Dunbar found that human social brains can sustain around 150 stable relationships, with smaller circles of roughly 5, 15, and 50 nested inside. Orbit treats the 5, 15, 50, 150 shape as a humane scale, not a rule.
5, 15, 50, 150
The rough layer sizes found in social networks, online and offline, from closest loved ones outward.
Ending Loneliness Together's State of the Nation report found that nearly 1 in 3 Australians were feeling lonely. Orbit does not claim to end loneliness. It is a small private tool for tending existing relationships before drift becomes normal.
~1 in 3
Australians feeling lonely in the 2023 State of the Nation report on social connection.
Jeffrey Hall’s research at the University of Kansas suggests it takes roughly 40 to 60 hours of shared time to move from acquaintance to casual friend, around 80 to 100 hours to become a friend, and 200 or more to become a close friend. No app can give that time back. Orbit just helps you protect a little of it.
200+ hours
The rough band Hall found for becoming a close friend, on top of 40 to 100 hours for the earlier stages.
Keith Hampton’s R5D work shows that a single broad support-network question can bias who people remember. Orbit borrows the interface lesson: smaller prompts can make quieter ties easier to notice.
R5D
Restricted, domain-specific name generators reveal support ties a broad question can miss.
Across 13 preregistered studies, Peggy Liu and colleagues found that people who reach out consistently underestimate how much the contact is appreciated, especially when time has passed. The hesitation is a forecasting error, not a real risk. Orbit’s gentle nudges carry that reframe.
13 studies
Preregistered studies in which recipients appreciated a reach-out more than the sender predicted.
Research notes
Two source notes explain why Orbit asks smaller prompts, moves gradually, and keeps the user in control.
Keith Hampton showed that single-prompt support-network recall can bias who people remember. Orbit translates that lesson into Conversation Cards.
Read the noteAron et al. showed that paced reciprocal self-disclosure can increase closeness. Orbit borrows the pacing, not the laboratory exercise.
Read the noteHow we use this research
Research can be borrowed from carefully or borrowed from badly. Here is the line we try to hold.
No app can. Loneliness is shaped by health, place, life stage, money, and time. Orbit is a small tool, not a cure.
Only you can spend that time. Orbit helps you notice the people it would be worth spending it on.
Drift appears as a gentle change in the shape of your circles, not a score or a streak.
A name, a date, a thing they said last time. The kind of memory that makes a hello feel warmer.
What we deliberately do not claim
If you are struggling, please reach out to a service built for that.
Orbit is not a therapy app.
Orbit is not a mental-health treatment.
Orbit is not a crisis service.
Orbit is not a substitute for a friend, a doctor, or a counsellor.
Australia
Lifeline
13 11 14United Kingdom
Samaritans
116 123United States
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988Where Orbit fits
Orbit sits in the space between memory and action. It does not read private messages or infer sentiment. It asks smaller questions, lets the user choose who came to mind, and leaves room for no action at all.
Orbit will be more useful to you if you trust why it is shaped the way it is. The studies above are the honest version of that answer.