"What exactly is the purpose of these sites? Well it's like high school cliques all over again, your coolness among your peers now depends not only on how many online friends you have but also how many or more importantly which sites you use." ~SmokeDelux.com, Mar. 22

I see social networking sites in several different ways. Sometimes people use them just to keep in touch with friends because, face it, emailing is a lot easier and less time consuming then phone calls or visiting. Social networking sites can also be used to make new friends, sometimes those new friends actually become your friend.

So what is the purpose of social networking sites? How do you see them? What do you use them for? Are they used as popularity contests?