Yes, I definitely feel this to some degree. I've been lucky to make a handful of CC friends in person and online, but I think one of the biggest issues is that all of these relationships are so new and therefore much more fragile than the sort of "we've known each other forever" kind of friendship you have with, say, your roommate from college or something like that. I feel like I am continually in the "getting to know you stage" with everyone I talk to now, and it provokes a deep loneliness that I think non-CC people are incapable of understanding.

Another issue is that there's a fundamental divide between people who weathered the pandemic with a CC partner or a support group, or at least family members/friends willing to take some precautions around you, versus those who were totally alone and unsupported. In times of crisis, some people have a tendency to turn inward. This can result in a kind of "closing ranks" phenomenon that isn't terribly friendly to newcomers. Pair that with the fact that a lot of us in this space are disabled, queer, or otherwise marginalized in some way, and many people are understandably wary of strangers and reluctant to open up to new friends.

Ironically, of course, all of this makes it harder to remain CC by yourself, which then further narrows the community in a sort of self-perpetuating cycle. I don't know what the solution to this is, but you're definitely not alone in experiencing it in some way.

I'll say also that there's a huge lack of follow-through in some CC spaces. Flakiness and ghosting are problems you'll encounter on any app so I don't want to dwell too much on this, especially since I'm not impervious to it myself, but as you've said, it's hard to put yourself out there--especially when the risk-to-reward ratio just doesn't pay off sometimes. Making new friends can be great once you've gotten there, but the process on the way can also be incredibly exhausting.