Making friends

Hey all! i have been through alot of crap with people and developed social phobia. I was very scared of people i couldn't talk to anyone. I closed everyone out. Anyway i am now over it at the age of 25. I been dealing with it for the last 5 years. Anyway i had been out of society that whole time and it is very lonely. I have regained my confidence and have been trying to make friends for last 6 months, with people from work or people i meet. Anyway does anyone know what is up with the people these days? I get their number and they say they want to do something but every time i invite them out to a party, to movies, to the beach, for anything they always make an excuse. I have invited about 9 different people out multiple times. Is it me or is it just them? Are they scared of change or meeting someone new? Are they scared to let someone get to know them? Are they just to lazy to do something new? Its has become very annoying. Do i just be persistent and keep inviting them out?

Well I think that it is just that a lot of people have such busy lives these days, and they just stick to hanging around with people they already know. How are you meeting these people in the first place? You need to find people that want to do the same types of thing, so if you are into a sport, then other people doing the same sport in a club might be a good place to start looking, then you can challenge them to compete with you and build up some kind of initial bond.