Usually the best way to find new people is to get into an activity or hobby. Use meetup, or Facebook events, or other local event coordinating services to find activities or events you’re interested, go and chat with people, and if you hit it off with people after a few times seeing them, try to make a connection individually outside the group, like meeting up for coffee or a beer, etc.

The hard thing you’ll find as you age though, is there’s a finite amount of social attention people have with their lives, and as people age and establish their groups of friends, sometimes its hard to break into their circles as they’ve already kinda maxed out their in life social network. Sometimes they either aren’t really looking to add more friends, and include more people in their life, or just don’t think to invite you to events etc. Breaking though that, or finding people open to adding more to their social networks, can be hard as you age.

Basically you have to bond over a game, be it physical, like sports or board like regular board games or as many people mentioned here D&D. For sports, regardless of your skill level, there’s a group. Beer leagues and such. Solo sports like mountain biking can work too but you have to be super consistent and really get into the sport where you have common ground.

If physical stuff is out of the question, then you have your board games. Even small towns have meetups.

The important thing is actually doing these. Friends don’t just come to you and you have to be consistent. Most people don’t just become friends in one or two sessions, it takes time and rapport building. And you can’t always wait for others to initiate the friends part. You might have to be the one that goes “hey wanna grab some wings after this.”

Step 1 - Move to Cleveland.

That’s it. There is no step 2. Everytime I leave the house, all I hear is “Oh, hey! I like your jacket!” Or “Heeeey, you know what time it is!!!” (as said as I’m carrying a 24 pack).

Or “Whats goin’ on my brotha from anotha motha???”

I’m not particularly social, so I just fake my way through these interactions. But it’s my understanding that 260K people (or whatever Cleveland has) are all one big social group, and we all go out drinking every day.

Except I don’t really like being around strangers. So I just power through and get home quickly. But I’m sure you could have a 2 hour talk with any rando on the street.

Community college. Took a few classes I never would have normally chosen like art or acting. I was a stay at home introvert who was way past college days, so I couldn’t figure out how to put myself into social situations. But I do like to learn, so signed myself up for some night classes. Ended up dating a few people, made new friends, and married one of them. Night classes bring in the adults who have to work during the day, a few kids too, but I met just about every age group from young to very old. Study groups, group projects, anything that will involve working with or helping classmates, or anything that you think is interesting really. Have life long friends now because of that decision.

Go back to where you first learned how to make friends, go back to school.

Ive moved around a bit as an adult. Ive found that hobby groups are great to make friends. If you show up every week and don’t intentionally make anyone else feel shitty, you’ll find that you have friends after a few months.

Ive done this with disc golf, ultimate frisbee, magic the gathering, dungeons and dragons.

If you show up regularly with the intention of having a good time, people will also show up with the intention of having a good time with you

Pick any hobby that have group classes and show up consistently. Can be exercise, pottery or whatever. Regulars notice each other and you’ll be in the “regular” category very fast.

Then go for a beer on Fridays or after practice or whatever and then take it from there.

i generally advise doing something and then finding people who like to do it too and then doing it with them. or you can become an alcoholic

Do things you actually enjoy doing, the friends and other things will come naturally. Don’t do things to try and make friends. Do things you like and the friends will come to you. No matter where you live you can find something you enjoy doing

First thing I would do is do some work on myself. Get a job that you are comfortable with (or even like if possible), start working out and eating right, get your own place (sounds like you might be staying with your parents from the post), and do the mental work to take accountability for things you can improve on in the way you have interacted in relationships.

The last one was the hardest for me after my big break up, but it took a lot of very intentional work to realize that I had a lot to change in order to be a good partner. If you want the woman of your dreams, you need to be the kind of man who deserves her.

Removed by mod

Rural is difficult. Do you need to live out in the middle of nowhere? Work and kids activities (I have lots of kids) are the main ways I’ve met people but cities are full of many different people, in the outlying areas you may literally know everyone in town already, there aren’t new people to meet.

If you are up for it, a whole new start might be good for you. Maybe apply for jobs in a nearby city?

First off, feel you man. Must be rough.

About meeting new people, you could look into trips in the future with groups, a friend of mine met at least one person he keeps in touch with. Maybe there are some free/not too expensive hobbies you could engage in. Few examples: hiking, climbing, crafts In those places you’re bound to meet people and if you’re at least half decent, you’ll engage with the people there and those might just be your future friends

Sooo I was kinda in your shoes a few months ago, and decided I really needed to do something about it before I lost my goddam mind. What I’m doing (and it’s kinda working) is to find a community that interests you, and persistently be involved in it. I personally found a streamer on Twitch and a few Discord communities, and hang out with those people by generally just being there and having small interactions with others. We watch the same things and play the same games in voice chat. It really helps to have some sort of common activity that you can comment on and springboard your experiences or stories. You don’t have to be that guy that’s obnoxious and in everyone’s face, just pay attention to the people in these groups and be super friendly. I’ve found a few acquaintances and am working on knowing them better to become friends. You’ll remember names and interesting things about them, or be like me and take notes so you don’t forget lmao. Eventually, they’ll say “Hi <name!> It’s nice to see you again. How was your day?” and then you know you’re on the right track.

Socializing is hard, especially when you’re not used to it and in this online era. If you’re friendly and attentive, people will reflect that energy back to you, and you will form bonds. Good luck!

I started my own business which involves going into people’s homes and fixing shit. I’m meeting a ton of new people nowdays, granted most of them are either elderly or single older women / moms.