Don't know if you've made the connection yet that first impressions can set the tone for the rest of your relationship with a group. If you attend a new event

Don't know if you've made the connection yet that first impressions can set the tone for the rest of your relationship with a group. If you attend a new event like a church group, don't really get involved in any conversations or the ones you have go really poorly or awkwardly, and then end up sitting a table by yourself, it might actually build its own momentum and make people feel more awkward if five weeks later after coming 4 times and just sitting by yourself you try again and try to join a group conversation. It feels very weird to them because at that point they've already categorized you mentally as 'weird guy' or they mentally feel awkward when you join. First impressions matter a lot. As do a lot of the tropey dating advice about confidence, friendliness, conversational skills, etc. And at that point, you really can't expect people to approach you if you come in and sit alone. It's honestly better if when you join a new environment like that, you join a big circle of people, try to portray confidence, introduce yourself, try to hang back in the conversation a bit but contribute a little here and there - importantly, not just saying nothing at all or people might start getting weirded out. Maybe when you join these conversations you aren't smiling and being friendly enough. Maybe you don't know how to show people that you care about they have to say or they don't feel like you are interested in them. Perhaps you haven't learned yet what's 'awkward' and what is not. I have experienced the 'I may as well be invisible thing' many many times, but I can always trace back how things got there, because I can tell when someone has become awkward, and I usually kind of know why things got awkward. I might say something stupid or weird people out accidentally - but I'll at least be able to tell when I've done that. Can you tell when things have suddenly become a failure? Or it's a mystery all the way through? Another thing you could try to is to find some examples of socially successful people in media and try to emulate them. Act like them. Speak like them. See if communicating like they do leads you to better outcomes. And then learn to identify what those 'characters' are doing differently than the normal you. You may also try a dating coach, but instead of having them help you with dating, you go to events with them joining you and join these group conversations, and afterwards have them debrief you on what to do differently.