Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world zcryj @lemmy.world 1d ago

I have a hard time making friends. Anyone else? Any tips?

I'm in my late 20s. In the last years, I've moved a few times and tried out a bunch of things. And discovered I have a hard time getting close to people.

I used to think I just need to go out more. But I found out that most people I meet just don't seem to "fit" with me.

Let's say I meet some interesting people, who are funny, smart and have shared interests with me. We make a bit of small talk, hang out, and then I go home exhausted, feeling like I just came out of a work meeting that should have been an email. And given from how they rarely invite me back, I guess the feeling is mutual.

Someone told me I am quite cold towards people I don't know well. Part of that might be that my usual way of talking is a bit emotionless. Another part could be a consequence of me basically going through the script in my head. "How is work these days? Cool. Yeah, me too. Yup." I don't want to be this way. But I also don't want to go into full sales presentation mode, because that feels really wrong.

I used to think I would just become misanthropic. But there are people where I just click with. Talking to them is not a chore, but something I look forward to. And they seem to enjoy my company as well. Some events seem to have a lot more of "my people", some less.

If you read my rambling until here, thanks. I genuinely don't know any more. Am I becoming the old sod sitting on his porch yelling at kids? Or am I just spending time on the wrong people? Have you experienced something similar? And how could I change this?

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The biggest thing is that if you want to hang out with people you will need to take the initiative to make it happen and not rely on being invited. If you are already doing that, keep it up! But that is frequently the second hurdle for people after not going out and being social which is the biggest barrier to meeting new people and it sounds like you are going out.

The other thing is being a little more open with new people while avoiding an info dump. Mention a couple things and see if they respond, and make sure to express interest in things they bring up when possible. Like I simply don't care about sports but can talk about someone else's enjoyment of sports instead of dismissing all sports talk.

But I can also relate to how some people feel like a chore to talk to and others come easy. But not everyone who is easy to talk to shares interests, which kinda sucks. That is why I haven't really made new friends for years as I have four friends who are easy to talk to and we interact daily online, and honestly expanding my friend group is intimidating after the last attempt to expand based on a hobby ended up with most of them being maga idiots. It was worth the try though!
- Oh, and for the maga idiots, so much yes. I'm lucky that most people at the local range are chill, but some... I am here to relax and kill some innocent cardboard pieces, not listen to you trying to convince me how the woke has ruined the country.
- That's good advice. It's a numbers game. You invite ten people, and you're lucky if three show up. But better than nothing.

50 comments