Hi, I can relate to most of what you said! I hate socializing in groups! It's so hard to keep up with so many people at once! Then there's always that one person who won't let anyone get a word in edgewise! All they do is talk and talk, ugh!

Maybe you'd be better off socializing with someone one on one or in a small group of maybe two or three people at the most who share common interests? I'm always better off talking to people one on one, although I do struggle with social issues still and knowing what to talk about sometimes.

I'm not the best at picking up on social cues. I hate most parties since most people don't bother talking to me. Maybe next time you can find one person there who seems out of place too to talk to? Or you could just ask questions instead of trying to figure out what to say? Most people love talking about themselves. If they talk about a certain movie for example that you didn't see, ask them if it was any good.

If you did see it, then talk about that and what you liked or didn't like about it. If all else fails, compliment someone on making a funny comment, their clothing, or some other thing about them that you think they'll respond well to. Maybe if you know the host well enough, you can ask them or a mutual friend to introduce you to the people there.

I don't know if that'll all work for sure as some groups aren't very friendly, especially if they mostly know each other. Just read some stuff on here on how to talk to people in groups on youtube or something like that, and maybe that'll help you out. Honestly though, talking to other people one on one usually works for people like us the best, so maybe take baby steps and start with that.