I know for many people "fake it till you make it" is tried and true, but I found that it made me a giant ball of stress. I was always trying to fit into every situation, I would try to get into hobbies and media that didn't actually appeal to me, just so I understood certain social signals, etc. It ultimately felt like I was constantly putting on an act.

In my experience, I found that leaning into my awkwardness, allowed me to take a certain level of ownership of it. Instead of pretending I understood that reference, I asked questions about it. By asking questions, people actually opened themselves up to me (and also allowed me to deflect attention off me, onto them). This lead me to be more specific and purposeful with my questions and words. Sometimes I still feel odd, or weird but I always feel comfortable in my intent and I feel like it's mostly had positive effects.

This is all to say I don't think one method works for everyone. While I've been an introvert since high school, I have never lacked for friends or social opportunities, just frequently preferring to be at home alone. But it wasn't until I accepted my awkwardness and weirdness and bought in that I found more comfortable with others, but even then I found that it mostly just pointed me in the direction of a more awkward and weird social groups, which I'm fine with.