Social contact and Friendships

I'd like to broaden my horizons on the area of knowledge of mechanisms people with autism use. Basically I'd like to hear from as much people as possible how they meet new people, how they keep in contact with those poeple, and how they make and keep new friends.

So it would help me a lot if you could answer those questions for me, thank you in advance.

1. How do you meet new people?
2. How do you keep contact with people you've met?
3. How do you make new friends?
4. How do you keep those friends?

1. How do you meet new people?
2. How do you keep contact with people you've met?
3. How do you make new friends?
4. How do you keep those friends?

Well i'd better get back in time for that as my social days have more or less ended since a couple of years ago.
Since i was very young i grew up with the children from my neighbourhood, went to school with them and became friends with them. The only way i met people was through them as none of them have autism themselves, basicly my entire social life depended on these guys.
Anyhow, as said i would meet new people through my friends only and some of these new people eventually became friends, mostly through some shared interests or something like that. I kept in contact with them mostly through my friends.
Now as for how to keep them, i honestly can't answer that. My social life is currently a disaster as (what used to be) my friends moved away from the neighbourhood, either went to live on their own or they had to go away for university and such. In the end contact just faded away and after a failed attempt to pick up contact again with a few of them i just gave up on it.
As for today i don't meet new people unless i have to, and even then there's barely anything happening. As example, i have to go to a social workplace now and really the only person i talk to is the guy in charge, for some reason i don't even say hello or goodby to the others around there, not sure wether it is becouse i don't care anymore (lacking confidence or just motivation) or becouse i'm afraid of something.