Lots of people feel lonely and would love nothing more than to meet new people, but they're stuck not knowing where to even start. Below, we walk you through the simplest ways to meet new people with ease.

Meeting New People via Smartphone

These days, new friendships and connections are found and made mostly through the smartphone. Take a look in the App Store and you'll find countless apps promising to help you find the woman or man of your dreams. But it doesn't have to be about love, a relationship, or even marriage right away. Plenty of people use these apps simply to find new friends and connect with someone new. You can set up a profile and just take a look at who's nearby and open to making a new connection. The motto here: just send a message and see what happens. You're bound to have some success. Just don't rush it — take your time, and you'll notice that meeting new people can genuinely be fun from time to time.

Visit Clubs and Bars to Meet New People

Get out there in the evening too. Try talking your friends into hitting bars and clubs with you. Once you've actually made it out to places like that, don't be afraid to approach people and strike up small talk. Be open and put yourself out there. Tell people you want to meet new people, and they'll appreciate it. People tend to be more relaxed in a party atmosphere anyway — a lot of them go out specifically to meet new people and chat. Meeting new people sometimes really just comes down to being open. If the conversation gets a bit more meaningful, feel free to ask for a phone number too, so you can stay in touch going forward.New people

Turning Old Friends into New Friends Meeting new people can sometimes be really simple, without even going out or spending any money. You can also reach out to old friends, or people you only vaguely know. There were probably people back in your old class you thought were interesting and cool, but never worked up the nerve to talk to. If you still remember their names, look them up on Facebook or Instagram. Once you've found them, just send a message and introduce yourself. Chances are, they'll remember you too. The advantage here is that you already have a built-in conversation topic — the old days, and everything that's happened since. After a while, once things seem to be going well, you can ask whether they have a partner or something similar, and decide for yourself how you want to take getting to know them from there.