I was thinking about this topic this weekend, because I was arranging a birthday party for a family member who is a self-professed hermit... It was a bit of challenge, not least because she makes very little effort to keep in touch with people herself and has few friends. Long story, lots of denial going on. Anyway. I can be quite an introvert myself but I recognize my own need for social contact so I make an effort to socialize regularly even when I don't always feel like it. (Wow, sitting quietly at my kitchen table and suddenly the garden filled up with birds. I guess someone noticed the cat wasn't around :-))
My point was that I think everybody, no matter how social or introverted or extroverted, needs to belong to a group somehow. I think maybe the need to belong is stronger than the need for close friends. You can see close friends quite seldom, but on an everyday basis we need people who recognize us and hopefully like us, but simply having some kind of place in a group has value in itself.
Just a random thought.
Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin
1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett