I'm not out to most of my friends as a less wrong reader and aspiring rationalist because I'm worried that they'll think that I've joined a phyg!

Do ... do you mean we can have friends outside of LW? Don't the sequences say that's irrational?

I've by now pitched LW to quite a lot of friends, STEM-types mostly. It's worth thinking of a 'pitch', or some sort of casual mention, you feel comfortable with, so you don't avoid the topic at the last moment.

Raising awareness for the EA community in general, or LW in particular, are probably among the lowest hanging fruit for having a high impact for low effort, it's worth getting down that barrier of somehow being 'embarrassed' by hanging out with ostensibly smart people sooner rather than later. Be proud of who you are, and of your affiliations!