I've found that both having friends and not having friends have their downfalls. I currently don't hang out with friends. I feel lonely often but I am also less anxious and am avoiding the insane boredom and disappointment from not being able to connect with others. Having friends became a constant struggle and I started to hate being around them.
I tried the friend thing for years and it just wasn't working out. They eventually just started shutting me out in a condescending kind of manner, and my reaction to that action was to shut them out completely and stop hanging around them.
People tell me I had bad friends, well not all of them are bad per se, but I also think that people are people and if I can't connect with that many people, then I probably will struggle to connect with others. I've always struggled with getting people to understand me, even my best of friends never got me.
Desire seems to be the biggest issue. I don't have the desire to talk to people in many cases, and I don't have much of a desire to be around people. When that desire isn't there, the sacrifice of going out and being the bored outcast that constantly struggles to connect with others just isn't very appealing.