There's no doubt that social-networking software has become an integral part of youth culture.

Whether it be MySpace, Facebook, eHarmony (if you're thirtysomething), Friendster (if you're really ... obscure), or any other site, many of the people you meet will have a Web page somewhere dedicated to themselves, with pictures, favorite music, friend rankings, comments, religious belief slots, and so much more.

The other day I was looking at my Facebook and noticed that across all of my regional networks I had around a couple hundred "friends." This is nothing compared to most people, but nevertheless I still felt pretty cool that so many people trusted me with access to their "South Park" Character Creations and Volleyball Pictures.

Of course, this shouldn't be surprising, since we're friends and all. Except that I haven't actually had a conversation in real life with about a third of my so called "friends." And I don't even consider myself an extreme case. I know some people who add all kinds of people on MySpace; not only their friends' friends, or their friends' friends' friends' friends' friends, but even just people who they thought looked interesting.

While it's cool to talk to people you wouldn't normally get to meet, I can't help but wonder how many people will continue to try to prove they have a lot of friends based on their Facebook pages. And how many people will add random friends just to keep up with everyone else?

But I'm still going to keep friending strangers, and so is my latest buddy Hannibal. You'll see! You'll all see! We're going to be POPULAR!