Sometimes I feel like social media actually makes us more lonely and disconnected from others.
Write letters to your loved ones. Ask friends out to get coffee or dinner to talk about life.
The world needs more ludd-lights (my term for luddites, but not so extreme) now more than ever.
My experience is largely against what you describe, however. At least in the major city I live, I have literally been thanked, with a genuine smile - one of those real smiles that begins in the eyes - and gratitude, by cashiers when I ask, before they speak to me, how they themselves are doing. Literally countless times. I see these people quite often, as they work at places I frequent. They remember me and we, over time, learn more about one another. May aim was not to be their friend, or even acquaintance, just to build a sense of community.
Small talk is the fastest way I've bootstrapped myself into outrageously diverse social circles. Plenty of encounters with closed off people uninterested in me? Yes. Plenty of encounters that went well, spread some smiles, with people I've never seen again? Yes. Plenty of people I have sustained contact with, who are now close friends of mine? Not plenty, but a handful that made all the other encounters worth it.
And regardless, what is the alternative? I have to find my friends, acquaintances, strangers interested in similar things, love interests, and mating partners online? No thanks, call me a weirdo please.
No, it is to create an immediate enemy (I'm only half-joking)
TC wrote a whole article about it: https://techcrunch.com/2011/08/28/the-social-network-paradox...
For this reason I've a tiny community of close friends and family on Path (remember that) where we socialize. The slogan is "what's on Path stays on Path". It really works well, it's like Facebook in the early days.