>>34652629
>How do you make friends on games, discord servers, etc. when you don't know anyone to start with?
Online friends are not real friends. Forget about them and meet people IRL.
>And how do you know what red flags to look for to avoid weirdos?
Can be solved by taking my first bit of advice.
>I've always only made friends with people that reached out to me but that never happens anymore and that was probably not optimal to begin with...
If this affects your IRL stop being passive. For online see my first bit of advice.

>>34652639
I used to have a good group of IRL friends that were originally my high school friends, they all got married and now only socialize with other married people.
Second (and last) IRL friend group was from college, none live near me anymore and we never really hung out online anyway so that's pretty much over.
I meet people I like at work now, but I don't want to mix professional with personal life.
The only reasonable thing I can really see is getting a gf just to have one friend and maybe a few more if she has a better social network than me.

>>34652848
Do hobby groups or whatever.

How old are you?

>>34652864
Elaborate? How do you find something where you actually make friends as opposed to just showing up, socializing at the event, and going home?
>>34652876
32

>>34652917
To make friends you need to spend time with them and connect with them on a deeper level. Talk to people, invite them to things, etc. Some friends will just be event/hobby friends and that's ok. People are busy. You can still enjoy your time with them even if it is somewhat superficial.

I want to know this too....and before anyone mentions /soc/ that place is a waste of time. Maybe it was good a decade ago but not now.

>>34652629
Online friends are not real friends. Trust me after awhile online friends lose meaning.

>>34654826
Or when the online ones stab you in the back.

>>34654827
Mhm. Browsing on anonymous forums is fine though.