Many people will say that technology and the internet is driving people apart, but I’m here to argue that the internet is bringing people together.

People who would never have met otherwise.

The internet gives people a chance to know get to know someone before ever meeting them. If you feel like you already know who someone is, it is much easier to talk to them because you have somewhat of an idea of how they might act in person.

Social media is an outlet people use to show the world who they are or how they want to be perceived. What someone posts or doesn’t post on social media says a lot about them as a person.

The internet gives people a way to feel connected.

Social media allows people to keep tabs on their loved ones who live in the same house or may even be cities or states away.

I know for me, I like to use Facebook to show everyone back home what I’ve been up to. It can be hard to stay in contact with everyone I would like to, but through Facebook they are still able to be a part of my life.

A lot of times people will finish high school and move quite a distance away from home to go to college. They leave their family and friends, and they are now on unfamiliar turf with a whole slew of unfamiliar faces. Being thrown into this new environment can make it quite intimidating for a lot of people to make new friends on their own.

Apps like bumble are great for people who may not be that outgoing or confident to find new friends. It helps those who moved away from home for school and don’t know anyone to meet people at their school.

Sometimes these are people they may not have even talked to on any given day.

It is much easier to talk to someone in person if you feel as though you have already formed some sort of a connection with them. This makes the initial meeting not so scary or awkward because each person already knows something about the other person and they have things to talk about.

While a lot of the dating apps like "Tinder" and "Hot or Not" are used to fulfill the need to fit into today’s college hookup culture, that is not all they are limited to.

Yes, a lot of people use dating apps to meet girls/guys to hookup with, but there are also a lot of people who use them to form real connections and to seek out lasting friendships.

If someone makes it clear that they are not using those apps just for sex, then they can easily weed out the guys/girls who are not looking for anything more serious than that.

I’m not saying to agree to meet every single guy/girl who messages you online. Be smart about it. It is easy for someone to create a fake online profile, and it is also just as easy to figure out if a person is real or not.

I cannot stress how important it is for you to meet someone unfamiliar in a public place and to tell someone you know when and where this meeting will happen. This way if the person tries anything fishy, then you can make a quick escape to the bathroom and not come back.

Do not agree to meet someone at their apartment or have them come over to yours without first knowing who they are. This is so important.

While the dangers of the internet are very real, so are the “happily ever afters.”

There are all kinds of stories of people who met on some app like "E-Harmony" or "Christian Mingle" or even "Tinder" who fell in love almost instantly and continued to build a life together.

If it weren’t for "Tinder", I never would’ve met my current boyfriend. Sure we could’ve passed each other in Walmart or wherever, but we never would’ve spoken to each other then.

Not everyone has a cute “how we met” story, and not everyone was meant to.

You found your person, and how you found him/her isn’t important.