As the volume of new material on the internet has expanded, so have the number of people online. This has encouraged commercially driven websites to become more interactive and easy to use. But it has also created a critical mass of users - and this has had outcomes on the internet as a source of community-building.
The chances of finding friends and family online have increased. And the chances that they might want to interact with you online have increased also. Meeting new people (perhaps with shared interests) has also become greater.
In short, the internet now facilitates and cultivates relationships - old and new. The more people who go online, the greater the social resource available to all. The richer the online environment (text, photos, video, news), the greater the platform for people to discover and elaborate their shared interests.