You connect best with people who are like you in some way. Sports fans like to hang around with sports fans. Outdoors folks like to hang around with outdoors fo

You connect best with people who are like you in some way. Sports fans like to hang around with sports fans. Outdoors folks like to hang around with outdoors folks. Avid readers find fulfillment in book clubs. There's no magic here, and "popularity" isn't going to do a thing against loneliness. This is nothing new. Great minds like Voltaire met regularly with like-minded people to discuss philosophy and science in excruciating detail as far as everyone else was concerned. One could consider them the "nerds" of their time, and yet they had social lives, just not so much outside of their circles (much like everyone else). Your connections come from activities where you share experiences with others doing things you all enjoy, so seek out those enjoyable activities and the connections will slowly build as you meet people in those circles. That's how I met my wife.