This is a structural problem made worse by individualistic social norms. Once you’re out of college, or contexts where there’s “hanging out” that happens withou

This is a structural problem made worse by individualistic social norms. Once you’re out of college, or contexts where there’s “hanging out” that happens without intention, you’re in a situation where you have to do several things: meet people you like, put effort into making plans, and have time together frequently enough to become friends, not just people who like each other. I work on this problem as a builder and I’ll observe that most of the cultural scaffolding that used to support this has deteriorated, see Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam or The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz for good research on this.