Several times I’ve tried to join new social groups. The fastest way is to organize events around the group’s core activity. Demand for social events always exceeds supply; getting attendees is like giving away ice cream at the beach. You can make friends by consistently attending others’ events, but organizing your own accelerates the process.

This holds true from niche online fanfiction groups to vanguard intellectual movements directing hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Many treat community as a consumer good, assuming scenes appear spontaneously like wild blueberry bushes. In reality, events require legwork, and most people won’t do it. Organizers become the scene’s leaders, and other organizers notice who shares the burden.

Today’s social alienation stems partly from too many free riders consuming social fabric without producing it. Social scripts encouraging production have faded. While I can’t fix this society-wide, you can solve it in your own community by simply supplying the events people crave.