If you have little to no friends...

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This is a re-post of a thread in the "social skills [...]" forum. I figured afterward that I may not be getting a representative sample of the autism community since people with social problems are more likely to go there. I hope this is enough reason for a duplicate thread? Now for the copy-paste:

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Hi. After analyzing my current situation and past history, I'm thinking I should hermit up a bit; for how long undecided, but maybe until I get my Bachelor's. I get blown off too much. I'm taking online classes and expect to graduate within a half year. I'm not too interested in the jobs available to me considering my poor job history and the economy, so I don't think it's worth it to do an unpleasant job just to socialize more.

The purpose of this thread and poll is to find out how prudent of a long term strategy being anti-social is for those on the autism spectrum. Additionally, for those who are happy where they are, it'd be great if you could talk about how you are so.
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Thanks to all who vote/post

I'd like to have more friends, but it's so much hard work and in the end, most people bore me. When I find someone interesting I get rather motivated, but I fear I try to hard, or at least go about it the wrong way.

So aside from family members I have three friends, and only one I see more often then every six months...

I curently do not have any friends. Just a few long-distance that I talk to briefly every few months and have not seen in years. I also have a long-distance boyfriend who I talk to on the internet daily.

I am quite happy with this arrangement. I generally do not enjoy the company of others. I enjoy spending time with my boyfriend on visits but that is it. I do not want to make any friends and actively avoid doing so. My life has been much less stressful since letting go of the pressures of activities that society tells me I 'should' go to and 'should' enjoy.

I do get lonely occasionally, especially if said boyfriend is not online or is busy.. but I find socialization in posting on WP. Or I get lost in a video game, book, or TV program. No human contact needed.

I must say, though, that my definition of 'lonely' may be different than an NT's. I don't really see the need to socialize per say.. but for some reason I have a really strong desire to express how I feel and what I think. My being 'lonely' kind of just means that I haven't had any outlet for my thoughts. That is where posting on forums comes in I honestly don't care if people reply to me or not, as long as I get to say what I wanted to say . Other than that I may get 'lonely' if I have a craving for a certain person's company ie my boyfriend.

im quite happy with my small social groups (yes plural)

Not on the spectrum but I don't have any friends and am quite happy.

I also have few friends. Normally, I don't really notice, I just do my own thing. Occasionally, though, I think that it would be nice to have people to do things with, but as Lipstickkiller said above, it's an awful lot of work to keep up with friendships and I don't usually have much energy or interest to devote to it. I'm pretty happy with having just a few people I know casually online.

Is it wrong that I browse these forums even though I am not diagnosed with something?

I have not made that many posts, yet I appear to be an "NT", interesting diagnoses doctor.

I don't have any friends... I have good contact with my colleagues at work (not outside of work) and I'm very happy with that; it's going better than I expected it would go. But my social interactions are limited to colleagues, relatives, and if it counts, the 2 message boards I visit.

I sometimes wish I had friends, and I often reminisce about when I still had friends in secondary school. But I do think the social isolation I've had these past couple of years has been good for me, it was healthy. Not that being alone is something that makes me feel better, but I think I was a very egotistical person when I was younger, and now that I've had a chance to sort of drift alone and only see social interactions from a distance, I think it's allowed me to prepare better for when I may meet people in the future. I expect I'll build a new close social network when I return to school next year.

I must say, though, that my definition of 'lonely' may be different than an NT's. I don't really see the need to socialize per say.. but for some reason I have a really strong desire to express how I feel and what I think. My being 'lonely' kind of just means that I haven't had any outlet for my thoughts. That is where posting on forums comes in I honestly don't care if people reply to me or not, as long as I get to say what I wanted to say . Other than that I may get 'lonely' if I have a craving for a certain person's company ie my boyfriend.

I'd say I'm somewhat unhappy. I've mellowed out the last two years or so, back then I didn't care or want to be close to anyone. I don't dwell on it or anything and god knows how to fix it. Just momentary feelings of dread before I put my mind on something else. I want to change but I just don't know how.

I don't usually think about other people unless I have communicated with them recently or seen them recently or know I will see them soon.

Being around people is generally stressful for me because usually when I am around people I have to constantly remember what to do and what not to do.

I have one friend and he moved away recently and while I would like him to still be my friend I know that I don't usually think about other people and I do wonder how much contact I will ever have with him again.

I like forums because they let me communicate with people but only when I want to and only about topics I find interesting.

Sometimes I think about having human friends and think it might be nice but that is only rarely and when I am actually around people I don't usually want to be.

My pets are my friends.