They pretty much are how you’re supposed to make friends though. They create a recurring commitment to be around the same group of people regularly, so you can become familiar and identify people you like, without creating direct social obligations too soon. It can feel inorganic if you are not enjoying the recurring activity itself, and also don’t have any obligation to attend. But that’s how people make friends at school, in college, on their basketball team… it sounds like you’d benefit from finding activities where there is an element of obligation, like a recurring group volunteer event, or a small sports team where someone not showing is a big disadvantage.