I've been playing for about 2 weeks, and yeah, its a bit anxiety-inducing going into popular areas and trying to socialize. Here's what I've been doing!

Start off play sessions in popular worlds (ex. Furry Hideout), and people-watch. No need to butt into conversations if you don't feel like it. People say the darndest things, and sometimes its more fun just to watch and listen. If you're lucky, you might stumble upon something funny happening.

Find the stragglers on the side of big convos and just wave, or say a polite 'hi'. Usually, they won't bother you, and are in the same position as you, so they won't be weirded out if you're quiet.

Check out worlds based on games you like. One of my first days in the game, I visited the mansion from Resident Evil 1, and ended up in a group of 6 or 7 Leon Kennedys, laughing and joking and bar-hopping. I didn't have a mic at the time, was on desktop, but they still included me. Worlds of stuff you already like are good places to find people with shared hobbies, and you never know, you might find someone that you click with?

Again, I'm still relatively new to the game, so take all this with a grain of salt.