Jorev: I have seen a couple of these posts recently and my first thought was that this must be a joke.
You can't have real friends on the internet. You can't believe 90% of what people on the internet tell you about themselves.
You can only be friendly with online individuals. This is something Millennials and Gen Z seem confused about.
You have to go outside and meet people in real life and engage them face to face in order to make true friends.
If you want a real friend, get a dog. It will be the best friend you ever have. It won't betray you or speak ill of you behind your back. It will always be forthright about its mood and how it feels. It will be more loyal than anyone you date.
Or make a pen pal in prison. Some lonely axe murderer serving a life sentence will gladly correspond with you and meet you during visitations. You can talk through a plexiglass barrier because frankly they have nothing else to do.
To be fair, I think a lot of people without immediate families have been pretty isolated during the pandemic, especially for those that actually followed the social distancing precautions.
Personally, I see my family, but many of my friends, I see very infrequently now (between aging parents and the pandemic, one needs to be very mindful of risks).
Also, in a more normal context, you have people with various impediments or personality quirks that can't make friends easily.
But of course, anyone who is able should be encouraged to go out and socialize.