How to be social

I am graduating from non-CS/IT branch at a prestigious college this month. In July, I will be joining as an SDE 1 at Appian. Since this is my first full-time job, I want to prepare myself. Experienced professionals, please advise on what to do and what to avoid for better personal and professional growth. Here are some facts about myself: Personally, I am somewhat introverted but can talk if necessary and am good at conversing with friends. I often find that others put more effort into initiating conversations, which is why I have only a few friends and no female friends. Most of the time, I am comfortable with this, but sometimes I feel a bit lost. I rarely play sports or engage in physical activities (I’m not good at any sports). Any suggestions for improvement in this area would be appreciated. Professionally, I was a mediocre student in college and spent a lot of time on LeetCode (I’ve solved around 700 questions). Should I continue with LeetCode or competitive programming after joining? Or should I focus on projects and learning new tech stacks or AI/ML (I’ve studied a few courses and worked on ML projects)? Alternatively, should I just focus on company work and not pursue anything on my own? Lastly, I have a keen interest in finance and the stock market. I’ve been learning and investing for the past four years. Should I devote more time to learning technical analysis and swing trading, or should I keep it minimal? How should I prioritize my personal, professional, and financial goals?

How frequently do you guys just approach a girl at random? On the streets, in bars, at gyms, etc. P.S. If you have any communication starters, please share.

Life has been very harsh to me in terms of social life. All the places I went I didn't have any female interaction and now I'm stuck at home working. I had a past relationship which didn't worked and stopped me from going further and hit on girls. Now everything seems like a fresh start and I'm not sure where to begin. Dating apps ain't working much neither there are any in my social circle who ain't committed. What are some good places to start off with making one and how to avoid gold diggers. Will highly appreciate it if you can share your experience (if you have any).  P. S: Where I live there aren't any hangout places to meet new folks. I'm ready to even move to different cities if needed. I had a relationship of around 6yrs (from school). I'm 21 and my TC is ~50LPA.

Graduated in 2021, got an okayish job, still doing well career wise. I tried my own startups too. But I've never got the feeling of "yehi karna hai yaar life mein". All the friends are now disconnected. Doing WFH since forever and don't even have good connections at my current org or in my previous org. Tried therapy as well, didn't help much, they recommended medications, but that I'm not willing to do as of now. I don't know whether it's just me or this gruelling feeling of existential dread will ever go away. Maybe software engineering as a domain is like that, encourages introverts and introvertedness. But idk something is not right. No friends, no space to vent out frustrations. And it's been about 3 years since I last had a conversation with the opposite gender. I'm in complete mental mess, only thing keeping me alive is probably gym. I just want something to cling on to, to know this is not the end and this is not how it will end.

I have no time for hobbies or anything considering I spend most of my time working. My only social outlet is my colleagues and I don't want to end up gossiping with them all the time. How do you guys (who are in a similar situation) manage?

Nothing against those who love them. It's just that I would rather like to spend the time with my plans. But often, you don't always have a choice.

And it's a bad thingggg, she says. I mean, if I dont have anything to say, I won't say it. I'd rather add value. I've always been the quiet one even during college clubs etc. Honestly tho I'm really not. I have things to say but man they honestly are dumb things. And the thing is? Most people talk about party n stuff and and I'm not a person who does small talks easily, especially online. Am I really wrong here? It's my first job. Educate me

Saw an acquaintance using bumble. The men in profiles literally look highly successful, From IIT, IIM, NIFT , Founder and what not. It was really raining overqualified guys on the platform. Felt like real waste for the first time and thought that hot shot guys like them couldnt land a date, a commoner is out of question. What do you all say guys ???? That platform instantly makes me introspect where I failed in life.

I am a developer who joined the company this year as an intern and got ppo, my team fully consists of people in 40 to 50 age group with 10 to 15 yrs experience , on one note, working with such experienced people is an enriching experience but on the other hand feeling like missing out experiences that we get when we hang out with people of our age group, I don't have lot of friends and was hoping that i could get some in the company, I dont socialize a lot apart from people in office, what would you do in such a situation, whats your thoughts on me thinking like this?

I have a female coworker of mine with whom I have become very good friends with. We talk a lot during office hours. I feel very happy around her and i am able to express myself the most in front of her. I keep thinking about her all the time, even when i am at home, during weekends. However i feel that she only thinks of me as a friend and nothing more. This is based on signals i picked up during various instances, conversations we had. This thing breaks my heart. Also since I dont have a friend group as such to make weekend plans with, i mostly keep thinking about this during weekends sitting at home and this shit has been hurting me a lot. Seeing my other friends insta stories is a final bullet which further pushes me into depression. Sometimes i just feel like being open about this in front of her but then this could take a very bad turn if things dont work out in a happy way. I also cannot completely avoid her since we are in the same team and same project. Can someone please help with how to deal with this?