Practical steps to expanding your social circle?

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I'm trying to make myself appear normal, and one of the steps to that is making friends. Does anyone have any practical suggestions for going about this? It seems like everyone else has always had this tight-knit group of friends, and no one has ever had to start from scratch. It's a vicious cycle: to get friends, I need social skills; to get social skills, I need friends. Thanks for your advice.

appearing normal is such a vague non descript broad description. it should just be if you're human, you're normal. but then of course ego, intelligence, maturity, etc gets in the way of that simple truth. yes those who succeed socially early in life do usually have a tight knit, ever expanding group of friends. they feed off eachother's energy, etc and they have the social cues, etc down pat. for various reasons at various times in people lives, people have had to start from scratch with friends, etc after moving to a new location, job, church, gym, interest/activity, etc. yes some will always have so many friends where others will just have a few loyal friends, acquaintances, lovers, life partners, etc. there are plenty of people here who encounter difficulities in making friends. so my advice is join a local club of your interest, a gym, a church, a new job, or somehow make a conversation with a stranger in the mall or at a bookstore. how i go about this myself, well thats another story.

I've met most of my close friends at "nerdsports" – things like science societies, roleplaying games, fantasy and scifi societies, etc. They tend to attract people who are fairly "Aspie compatible" – not really fitting in with the social norm, prefer to socialise by sharing an activity than just talking and talking, usually quite analytical personalities, and have a high tolerance for "weird", or even appreciate it.