I'm part of a social activity meetup group that also does a bit of volunteer stuff for folks In need. I'm already with someone but I've watched people meet and pair off in that group several times. It happens.
If you smell shit everywhere you go, check your shoes.
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend a bar either. Try taking a class, joining some sort of athletic thing (jogging, cycling, yoga) volunteering somewhere. Go to a place where you're doing an activity with a group, and the focus isn't dating. Takes the pressure off and allows for getting to know people naturally.
And, the important second part to that, is to join a club without looking to date. Men (and very occasionally women) who join clubs or teams or whatever with dating as the first priority smell like desperation and end up making the experience worse for everyone, including themselves.
With a reaction like that I would say yes, you need to pay some attention to yourself. By the way, a lot of that "cool stuff" is very ordinary shit like trivia night at a local sports bar.
It’s actually kind of reductive. Maybe this person has just been unlucky when they have tried to meet friends? Then they read a highly voted comment “Maybe the problem is YOU!” and then they just get down on themselves. I feel like the better advice is “keep trying, cause building deep relationships is hard and actually a lot more rare than people think”.