Socializing when you were younger and socializing now

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Hey you guys I have a question.

When I was younger (I'm 24 now) socializing seemed so much easier. When I went to elementary school, I really loved it. Because I knew what I would or could do, and say. For example I grew up with a lot of "hypes". We used to play with marbles, so that became my interest. I just loved going to school and play with other kids and share interest in marbles. I would collected them, even draw pictures of them, we gave points to the marbles, so you would know which one was more worth then the others. So that was a (material) THING. Then the other hypes like, flippo's, Diablo's Pokémon... Those where all materials things, so I HAD to communicate with people to share our same interested.
In that time, making friends seemed natural to me, because of the material thing in between me and my friend. I loved playing with Knex, so that was another thing I could share with one friend.
It was like "I play with Knex, hey you too, will you be my friend?" And that was it!

But when the material things fell away in high school, I suddenly didn't know what to do anymore. Puberty and ego became a thing around then. There became a line between boys and girls, it was like I couldn't be "friends" with girls, because then you were supposable her "boyfriend" . And that was so hard for me, I never really looked at girls that way. Gosh I was pretty naive at that time. I had one good friend where I share interest in music with.
And in collage, things just went wrong. People of my age didn't listen to the kind of music I listed to. I didn't go out much because of the "small talk" every time. I guess I just was in the wrong group. But it all seems so artificial an forced. It's about those superficial subject, like dating, who was more drunk, who had sex and all that. So in the end, the THING wasn't there anymore. So socializing is a lot more difficult when I became older.

My question is, do you guys have some experience in what I just said? Did making friends and socializing became more difficult for you when you got older?

I think I can relate somewhat about the "things". All of my friends were made around "things" (not necessarily material). My first friend was made when I wanted to play tag. I didn't really care about the friend, I just wanted to play tag. Tag was the "thing", and I needed a "friend" to do it. Subsequent friends were similar. When I was interested in football or card games or whatever I needed somebody to play with and they became my friends.

In late elementary school/junior high/high school those "things" mostly faded away and the façade of friendship became the "thing" itself. I found myself with people I didn't have anything in common with, doing things I didn't like, just because you're "supposed to" have friends. That wasn't very fun.

But I was never really interested in anything besides the "things", so...

i can relate to that too. my thing that got me by when i was younger was just simply being funny and making people laugh about stupid things like toiler humor and stuff like that. this used to earn me a lot of friends, respect, and plenty of socializing for the best of my interest until of course people outgrew that.

I was the reverse when I was younger I never socialised at all and kept myself to my self. Now I never stop talking to people, love meeting new people no matter where I am and make myself known when am at partys. For me Socialising got way easier the older I got, Why? I forced myself to talk to people and once you realise it isn't scary. Life's easier.

I found it easier to socialise when I was younger too. Now when my cousins come round, they just sit about talking about their nights when they all meet eachother at the pub; who's going out with who, and who fell out with who, who got the most drunk, and so on. It all gets so boring, like can't they talk about anything else other than the latest gossip about what happened at a pub the night before? I have to hold back from talking about my fascination with bus-drivers, so why can't they just hold back a little bit from talking about their fascination with drinking and sex, just for 5 minutes? At least my fascination is more down to Earth than talking about a bunch of youngsters drinking themselves stupid and waking up being sick, also feeling bad that they kissed the wrong person and gets the hump with the person who broadcasts it out to the rest of the crowd.....ohh, so booooring!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !

When we were kids, life was so much easier. We played games out in the garden. If it was cold or wet, we went upto eachother's bedrooms and found fun things to do. We talked about better stuff, stuff we could all relate to and had conversations that were easier to join in to, and more interesting too. We done silly things, like picked out random books and laughed at the funny pictures. We got out drawing equipment and drew pictures and coloured them in. Nobody got judged so much, and everybody liked my toys and interests. We got lost in amazing make-believe games we made up, even if they just involved one room. Even the stairs turned into anything we could imagine.

What I'd give to get those wonderful days back.....

Socializing was much easier when I was much younger. In fact, I even remember, around 14, my mum making a comment about how I was so outgoing when I was a little kid, and even up to a few years before that, and then things just changed. Around people I know a bit - slightly better than acquaintances - I have an easier time, but, apart from friends, I have so much trouble. It feels like there's a kind of barrier between myself everyone else, and, like I've heard many other Aspies say, it seems as though everyone else knows and possesses something that I don't.

I find socialization much easier now. I can make small talk with random people almost automatically. It may be a bit awkward, but I don't stand there mute. I was never able to do that when I was young. By making small talk, I listen to what someone says and give a response based on that.

When I was younger, and we were all children, we would just play together because that was all we could do.

as young adults, it has become more about respect, connections/status, experiencing new things


As others said, social life with children revolves around a game or interest, but as you get,older and more developed, it's about manner