A little disclaimer first, I've never been one to make many friends online. I made some friends on IRC, but I was very active developing in that particular community. I also think the fediverse and initiatives like this place are potentially very good for that, in general they foster a healthy environment. The problem you perceive I think is due in large part to all the giant social media platforms being basically just a huge market/haverster of info on people to serve big capital, how can this promote meaningful human interactions?
Exactly, yes. Even spaces that once were useful, fun, etc, have been corrupted. It's a shame.