You chose very interesting two different outcomes. Super vast majority of people just hang out with decent people, have drinks, talk about stupid stuff and call it a day. I’d like to think that people don’t strive to have friends for “networking” or are scared to have friends because “wrong crowds”. It just feels wrong.
My friends have been there at my low lows, and knowing that I can theoretically call them at any point of my day just makes me feel good about myself. Conversely, I’d like to think that my friends can call me at any point of the day for no reason at all. Stupid stuff like having a small joke group chat of “rags to riches” where we just share stupid ideas is just liberating. Meeting them in person and doing stuff together, even if some of them (or me) hates it, is still objectively a nice feeling.
You have great friends but not everyone will be as lucky to find the right crowd to hang out with. If you grow up in a neighborhood with lots of criminals and people with lower socio-economic status, I would bet that you'd live a better life alone, reading books, or doing other solo activities.
If I lived in Afghanistan for example, I would rather stay at home playing video games instead of interacting with my neighbors. In the past, this would be impossible because video games didn't exist. That's why I'm saying that we live in amazing times where people can "choose" to not have friends instead of being forced into communities.
My friends have been there at my low lows, and knowing that I can theoretically call them at any point of my day just makes me feel good about myself. Conversely, I’d like to think that my friends can call me at any point of the day for no reason at all. Stupid stuff like having a small joke group chat of “rags to riches” where we just share stupid ideas is just liberating. Meeting them in person and doing stuff together, even if some of them (or me) hates it, is still objectively a nice feeling.