As others have said, a mixture is nice between solo hikes, hikes with a friend or two, and group hikes of 8-16 people where you can meet and get to know new friends on the trail.

I have had great experiences with all of these different options...my solo hikes are probably my favorite though. The solo hikes are more dangerous because if anything goes wrong, you don't even have someone to help you or go get help, etc.

And of course it depends on where you are hiking too...if I was doing some Class 3 stuff in the Sierra Nevada, I wouldn't want to be out there alone. But hiking the AT in GA, it'd be difficult to get lost and the odds of getting hurt are pretty slim as well.

But solo hiking like any other activity carries some risk with it. Non-outdoors people exaggerate the risk in their mind, but that is because they are naive and presumptuous.