k-12, high school and college/uni can be considered "work".
If you think about it, we never really made any friends outside of "work", the closest thing were guys at the gym but they were acquaintances really.
I don't think it's possible to do it. Just by looking at free time back then vs. scarce time now, if we failed back then what chances do we have now?
Leave the house and do activities that other people do.
Are you interested in meeting "normal, average" people? Or just hackers who are quite similar to the coworkers you used to meet at the office?
Are you looking for on-line friends, or "meatspace" friends?