Meeting people is important, sure, but it's kind of an "at the mods discretion" kind of thing.
We take all things into account when we grant FM, but the big three are this:
1. Do you contribute to the forums?
2. Have you met people and do you have recommendations?
3. Have you been here long enough for us to catch on if you're a troll/liability or not?
The first one relies a lot on your posts and if you have a solid amount of posts and they're not just one phrase responses like "cool set" or "sweet place", but instead they're actually content worth your time to read then you've got that going for you. Posting a solid amount of your own exploring photos is a good idea. (I haven't looked at your posts so I am just generically stating things at this point) If you have photos of your adventures then we're ore likely to grant FM because you are clearly an explorer.
Meeting people, although not an absolute requirement, is encouraged. I've met most of my best friends from exploring. But what this does is it allows people to vouch for you. Some people don't post all that much and aren't real inclined to do so. Some people don't like posting loads of photos and some people just stay quiet online other than a couple of things here and there. That's okay when a lot of these people end up with like 10 people who are recommending them for FM because they have spent a lot of time with their locals, helping them, exploring with them and overall immersing into their community.
Lastly have you been here long enough. I didn't look at your post history but you have a 6 years star...I think we can safely assume you aren't a trouble maker.
So there's no universal law to getting FM it's more of suggestions for things you should do.
Honestly the worst thing you can do is apply for FM and the mods either grant you FM or they tell you exactly why they aren't granting you FM and that if you accomplish whatever they felt you are lacking then apply in a month or so and get it done.
It's not a science, don't take it so seriously.