Personally, I like one-on-one situations the best because there's the least amount of BS small talk. People tend to be the most honest when in a one-on-one situation. But that intimacy can still be had even when in, say, a group of 5. But any bigger and it's just too unmanageable IMHO.

Am I the only one who thinks like this? Is my lack of appreciation for large groups a mark of my beta maleness and my inability to captivate a large audience?

Everyone puts on a nice act in a large group.

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Heaven has a beer volcano and stripper factory
Hell is the same, but the beer is stale and the strippers have STDs

Post edited at 7:49 pm on Mar. 30, 2008 by malignant melanoma

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Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

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Everyone puts on a nice act in a large group.

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That's EXACTLY how I feel. I find that a lot of "loud" people who talk for the sake of talking tend to do very well in large groups because nobody wants to talk about anything truly important and trivial topics rise to the top.

There's no reason to fear this tendency, provided you don't allow it to let you retreat from society.  Just make sure to cultivate the kind of friendships that allow you to interact with people in the way you feel most comfortable.  You'll continue to be social in the way you are most equipped to be.

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"It is the wrong question to ask, and therefore, as one might expect, has
no right answer." - Hans von Campenhausen

This is the philosophy of my life.