When you were younger, your parents probably told you, "Don't you dare talk to strangers online!" or "Never meet people from online!" or something along those lines? Usually, this talk came up when discussing abduction or solicitation of questionable material. Nowadays, we have hundreds of apps and websites dedicated to meeting total strangers and even meeting with these people in person! We have Craigslist to purchase things from strangers, dating sites like Tinder or match.com to date strangers, and social sites like Facebook or forums to meet new people and discuss similar interests. The times have changed, for better or for worse.

While the times have changed, we do need to understand and remember the dangers of online meeting. For starters, someone can go online and pretend they are someone who they really aren't. This is known as catfishing. It has been such a problem throughout the ages of the internet and social media, that there's a show about it. Other issues that can come up from meeting people online are the possibility of assault at an in-person meet, the stranger asking for inappropriate materials such as photos or personal information, as well as scams and fraud. However, these dangers are for a different article.

In this article, I want to discuss how people can make friends from online places. I've made a lot of people in my years of having an online presence. Being a non-athletic kid, my days were spent online playing video games and doing my own research on things that I found interesting. This led me to online forums and multiplayer games that allowed me to talk to a plethora of different people. Some of these people were from different states, time zones, and even countries. I'd play different games with these people ( Habbo, Xbox Live, Garry's Mod , Minecraft, etc.), and we'd meet up on these games for months, and in some cases years, of playing games with them. I truly felt as if these people were close enough to me to be friends. Now that Instagram is a thing, and Facebook is more widely used, we have added each other on the platforms and still talk to this day.

In more recent months, I've joined different Facebook and forum websites and talked to hundreds of different people. While most I have not met in person, I do plan on very soon. The best example I can give are the Facebook groups about the car that I drive, a Subaru Legacy. We have a few different groups ( Fifth Gen Legacy and Only Legacy's are probably the largest) that we all discuss a multitude of things, ranging from our vehicles to just mundane everyday life like our jobs or school. Fun fact, I found out one of the members of the group goes to my college! With these groups, we also try to plan meetups, and even plan on going to larger car events together. In June, a few of us plan on meeting up before (and group up during the event) arriving at the Wicked Big Meet !

Sure, the internet seems daunting. It's a massive space filled with hackers, perverts, and dangerous people. However, it's also filled with many kind-hearted, friendly, and amazing people! As long as you know how to keep yourself safe online, you should definitely take the time to meet new people from online (whether you meet up in person or not). Meeting new people also gives you insight as to different viewpoints too! Go out there and meet some new people!