It is important when meeting strangers for you to have a good posture and feel good about yourself. When you go out for the sole purpose of meeting new people, you end up meeting none. I would say just go out and have fun. Life is a laboratory where you got to try different scenarios. The people you see that are great at socializing have failed quite a lot in their pursuit, you just don’t know it. When you are able to meet new people give them your trust; it’s up to them to maintain your trust or not. As a rule of thumb I trust that everybody will come through, but when it comes to doing something important to me I only count on what I can do. I can only control myself, not others. anybody is free to do whatever they want, that’s where you’ll know who is a genuine friend who will help you in times of trouble, not just when everything is dandy.
Some classic books on the subject are: “How to win friends and influence people” By Dale Carnegie; “The Friendship Factor”, “Confidence”, “Bringing Out The Best in People” all these last three books by Alan Loy McGinnis; “Get The Best From Yourself” by Nido R. Qubein