Something I didn't see mentioned in the article but I feel contributes to my own "loneliness trap"

Every event I go to feels like some form of marketing or professional networking more than anything else. It's a big barrier for me, when I want to go to these events to make friends, not just professional connections

Maybe this is just because I'm in tech and I feel tech meetups very often feel like people trying to market their startups or get hired or whatever

I've never been great at making friends, but it feels so much more difficult now than it ever did before