I know reddit sucks and all but check out if your local cities have subreddits or if there are any similar groups on other platforms, usually they are at least somewhat active and always have meetups or groups on other platforms such as discord going or whatever else, people there tend to be sociable in person and still understand internet culture. there are a few of such lemmy communities but not nearly as much as reddit at the moment, that could also be a opportunity for y’all btw if you start your own.