Unfortunately my technique as a 6 year old doesn’t go over very well anymore.

“Hello, do you want to be friends”? ?

I have people I refer to as friends simply because I know them slightly better than strangers. Then I have a few very few that are closer than friends that I can talk to about lifes hard issues.

It seems to come so naturally to young people, to school kids. For me an elder now, not quite so easy... but there are a few ways to meet folks.
My neighborhood has a blog and people share giveaways, advice, and get to know each other.
Unfortunately none of us here will meet anyone in church, though about 30 years ago I did exactly that.
Foreign language classes at your local night school or comm college are a splendid way to make all sorts of friends. You see a person not your gender, ethnicity, age, any of it across the class. Your Italian teacher tells you in Italian, "Maria! Go ask Bruno what kind of car he drives. Ask him his hobbies." ) Soon you may have a new pal you never thought you would.
For people with growing kids, parents' associations and events for the kids' schools. Your kids' pals' parents. Walking your dog, Befriending passers by doing same. Gardening societies, or gardening out front of your place. About half the passers by I see here do stop to admire my work, which is rather a lot and has been more arduous than I imagined by far. Two neighbors have actually volunteered, one from Peru- Olga, who walks to Zumba class, and Kean, a brilliant gay man from Malaysia who speaks 5 dialects of Chinese. And who took out so many weeds I will be forever grateful. Of course, friends of friends. Sierra Club! Join and hike. Political events and volunteering for candidates. Any sort of community activism, this is an oldie & goodie.
As you suggest, facebook can get you pals. I've met women on FB from Portland and from Chicago, now real life friends who traveled here to SF for other matters Other social media. Recovery meetings or support groups. I traveled to Europe once all alone, could not find anyone to go with my itinerary, and met lots of people (was young then, and got dates and a relationship out of it!) Traveling with others limits your attention to them, mostly.
best to all!

I try to be polite and friendly to everyone, however, I am very careful to differentiate "acquaintances" vs "friends". Some people define every new person they meet or have a conversation with as a friend, but I am more selective. Relationships take time to evolve into friendships and that means doing your part, whether it's getting together whenever you can, keeping up on the phone, etc. You need both parties to achieve a balance, and to me, this is the definition of a friendship.

Re-thinking all my relationships. Trying to not develop connections out of need and loneliness but maybe be with people who have an emotional clue. Sounds like you're making some healthy choices too.

There are days when I will talk to a fence post if it stays still long enough. Other days, I just can't think of a thing to say. As for friends, the only ones I have are my sisters. Everyone else I know is an acquaintance. I don't know anyone well enough to call them friend.

The older I get the more selective I have become and the more time I spend alone. I think that is rather common.

I treat people how treat me

Whether I talk to anyone really depends on my level of boredom. I really don't 'like' many people but can talk and get along with anyone. I have 2 friends and their immediate family.

People have a weird level of investment in [un]friending on FaceBook as if it actually means anything. I stand amazed at how the simple device of turning "friend" into a verb and substituting it for "adding you to my FB contact list" has turned it into a bizarre sort of social currency where people actually think that FB "friends" are actual friends. In fact I would imagine many in your generation don't know any other sort of friend. It's kinda sad.

I actually know of a situation in which someone unfriended some shirt-tail relative who was being an arse, and it resulted in a domino effect where the person was literally ostracised from their extended family. Bunch of Italians with the typical mafia-like notion of what "respect" is and isn't.

FB, more than any other social media, has changed the way we relate to each other, for the worse.

Anyway good for you, knowing how to make face-to-face actual friends, and how to have and enforce healthy interpersonal boundaries.

Super selective and even then your not my friend we just talk to varying degrees

Inspite of myself, and against my wishes.

That's how I keep myself clear of dead weight.

I will talk to stangers, but l am very particular about my friends and who l spend my time with.

I will talk to just about anyone. So far I have met some very interesting and nice people that I wouldn't have otherwise met.

I make friends by risking first; I smile, say Hi and engage anyone who will respond. Many people are take off guard by this approach and sometimes it take several like encounters before people will open up to the oportunity.

I'll talk to anyone. I'm selective about who I continue talking to however. Some people are just too negative/obstinately ignorant or just plain mean. I don't need that in my life, so I weed those folks out.

I suppose it starts with talking. I've talked with people around the world and many it turned out we had things in common.

I just talk to people, like you, but I'm selective.

I'm not very good at making friends. I never know what to say and I'm kinda awkward when I try to talk to someone.

If someone acts like a child, that's how I treat them. (When they start screaming, I leave) When people are real, I know immediately.

I'll talk to anyone about almost anything ... until they screw it up.

Hmmm, I tend not to make friends, but try and stay on good terms with acquaintances.
I am usinally both the least liked, and least disliked person in any group.

It varies but I usually make a light hearted comment to do with a common interest maybe the weather, the traffic etc. Could be thru work so there's a bit of common ground. Doesn't take many seconds to see if there's any friendly rapport to be had and then take it from there.

Online friends here are pretty easy, we all have a common element going in and that really seems to help get things underway.

I am fairly friendly and will talk to just about anyone. My jobs have lead me to start figuring-out people from the start. This is a big help since I am not a naturally extroverted.

Although I am female, I think my pattern of making friends is more typically male. I associate a lot with people who share interests and hobbies, and from those people, I find a subset that turn into friends because we end up having enjoyable times together or talks about something other than the interest or hobby. So, I tend to bond over activities and interests instead of starting out with the emotional side. People have said I'm very easy to meet and talk with, but very hard to get to know. I think those people are probably on to something there.