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How does the Internet affect our social lives and relationships?  While this question has intrigued researchers and the public alike, empirical evidence has long been only from small-scale studies and mostly associational.  Predictions can go both ways: the Internet might increase social isolation and reduce the time to meet others and to engage in social activities; conversely, it might ease social interactions and contacts.  We use high-quality and large-scale survey data from 32~European countries over a period of eight years, also relying on the regional time-space variation in Internet usage as an instrumental variable. Our analyses show that Internet users tend to report meeting friends and relatives more frequently and feel less lonely.  Yet, having a discussion partner or not and taking part in social activities more often than others are unrelated to Internet usage.