I'd argue the same, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it
vestigal.
I'm talking a bit out my *** here (and still working on the caffeine) but I'd think that while the environment's shifted, and the needs for survival are thus different, but the need to survive, which includes a legacy, is itself the primary impetus for all kinds of things both good and bad.
I'm actually genuinely sorry I don't have a more reasoned argument; yours strikes me as thought through enough that I feel it deserves more than a vague and unsupported semi-counterpoint. Once I've gotten my head together I'll come up with something.
Put yourself in situations where you must talk to people. Then proceed to talk to people.
All social skills are interactions with other people, and the only surefire way to improve on that is to do it.
My own example would be where I did sales jobs door-to-door. I was a terrible salesman, don't get me wrong, but the forced interaction jacked up my social skills to at least passable.
To succeed or starve is kind of an extreme case, but in your case something like a club or even a sport should serve the same purpose. As others have noted, your SB interactions also help, but I would advise that you don't necessarily want to conflate your online social skills and your in-person social skills too strongly - just ask how many people here have different degrees of social skills IRL.
Important sidenote: you're gonna fail. A lot, and repeatedly. Now this is gonna sound real counterproductive, especially coming from a goal-based environment like school, but trust me - that's actually something to
look forward to, not to be afraid of.
Extra Credits actually explored this in the sense of video games and creative endeavors. I'd argue it applies to any other skill equally well - including social skills -
so go have a look at that vid.
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