Practice being cognizant of this. Visualize yourself being aware of this while talking with people. This kind of visualization often helps me realize when I am engaging in behavior I want to change.
I went to a board game meetup group for a while but never ended up having many conversations outside of what was needed for the games themselves. I think the facebook thing might have had something to do with it, the group organized mostly through facebook and people suggested I communicate with it but I am banned from facebook and don't want to use it anyway.
Yes, but if you don't deal with the negative feelings you have when people comment on something you're self conscious about, its still going to affect you. Not everything can be solved with exposure therapy.
That's not a problem with me, it's the lack of like-minded individuals with which to converse. I'm not really self-conscious about anything other than doing my job at work.