Hi Teenster,
I can understand the feeling It does take awhile to get to know people and many have been here a LONG time! Some have even met in person! I tend to stay in Cat General myself since all I have is cats - but coming here to General has been great to meet new people. Already you have some good advice-
1) admire people's pets with a comment - everyone likes that! and it isn't hard to do with all the cute ones here!!!
2) if you can, help us get to know YOUR pets - either with stories or pictures.
3) one thing I do is actually keep a list of screen names and as I learn real names I write them down with notes about which pet belongs to which person and what their age is, etc
4) *I* am 49
5) the gift swap was a great idea! I never did that before either and I am also signed up.
6) I have been here almost a year and I still don't know very many people
7) start a brand new thread or poll! That is always fun