Honestly I don't think that the high friend count would be a good parameter to tell fake accounts from real ones, even though the linked article seems to sugges

Honestly I don't think that the high friend count would be a good parameter to tell fake accounts from real ones, even though the linked article seems to suggest so. There are many other comments in this thread along the same lines, let me just say that, based on my experience (e.g. my, nieces and many of their friends), it is not uncommon for teenagers in some geographical areas to have more than 3000 friends.