Your boyfriend sounds a lot like me. I'm the same way. I don't like crowds and I'm not very good with groups.

I would say, in a very chill, laid-back group, I can handle about four people at once.

On the other hand, I can be overwhelmed by one person if he's not the kind of person to allow an occasional gap in the conversation.

Yes! I'm totally stealing that line!

I try to avoid taking him to group gatherings whenever possible. Not because I wouldn't want to have him there, of course! I just consider boyfriend pain level at having to talk to strangers, etc.

I'm usually perceived as an extrovert but a random conversation with a checkout clerk can fill me up for the day. Sometimes total strangers are less exhausting than friends.
And your BF is Mr. Charm.

Almost always left Mr. L. at home when I went to firm functions or entertained clients. Hey, I love my husband.

I saw this book...

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

...at the library a few months ago, picked it up and read it. Very good. I loved the "World That Can't Stop Talking" part in the title.

Cain says Western, and in particular, American, culture is dominated by what she calls the "Extrovert Ideal," described as "the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight." Western societies, being based on the Greco-Roman ideal which praises oratory, favor the man of action over the man of contemplation, and view introversion as being between a disappointment and pathology. In contrast, traditional, pre-Americanized Asian culture is more inclined to value reticence and caution. The Harvard Independent's Faith Zhang remarked that Quiet seems in part a gentle rebuke to a culture that values style over substance.

I do just fine with people. I'm not a fan of huge groups, but I can deal in a socially acceptable way. I just need equal (or more) alone time, to recharge. Alone time is hard for me to get. Ergo, groups are hard for me. It can be a problem, going from a 13 hour shift interacting in highly personal ways with many people, coming home to 4 kids all talking at once and a hubby who missed me and wants to talk, too. I think, ideally, I'd work my 3 days in a row, simply crashing in an on-call room or a cheap hotel each night, then be able to go home and actually be present, the other 4 days each week. My hubby can't stand to be alone, though. I mean at all. I married my polar opposite. His work is largely alone (working on MRI's etc when the facility is closed, for the most part) so he's looking for company at home, and I'm looking for quiet. It can get tricky to navigate. Fortunately he's found a good bar to hang out at.

We moved a lot growing up (in a well-to-do, not poor, fashion). You get to where you see the same people over and over, in slightly-varying physical forms. It gets kind of weird, really, meeting the same basic person over and over.

I'm still saving up to place a sensory deprivation tank on the dark side of the moon

I suspect that several of the regulars here can clear a room in short order if immersed in a crowd fond of current fads in thinking, even if the reality is somewhat difficult to explain.

But I'd still find it fascinating to see how they talk in person, sans the limitation of text.

I'm like Amy's bf -- I can talk to people if I need to, but most of the time it's like shopping, a chore to get done and move on. Not something one does for fun.