Connecting with your family and friends remotely!
With the world on lockdown due to coronavirus, many of us find ourselves separated from our loved ones, be that family or close friends. But this is also a situation you may find yourself in if you relocate, you travel for work or you work remotely.
It can be distressing to be so far away or separated from those you love, but luckily, we live in a world where it is easier than ever to connect with people however far away they are.
So, to help you through this lockdown, or any instance where you find yourself separated, we would like to share with you some ways that you can stay connected with friends and family. And how you can keep your interactions fun and engaging.
Social Media
One of the most obvious and prevalent ways to stay connected with people is through social media. Using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc to keep each other updated on what’s going on with your lives will keep you feeling in the loop when you aren’t actively involved in what they are doing. All these social media channels also have ways to directly message each other for quick chats and catch-ups.
Getting your family and friends started on social media if they aren’t already is a good idea if you want to stay connected. If they aren’t or don’t want to be involved on certain social media channels there are plenty of other messaging services such as WhatsApp or iMessage that you can use to have casual text conversations.
Video Call
Sometimes we need to see our loved ones face to face, and we can't do that when texting or tagging them in memes. Luckily, there is plenty of conferencing software available for both professional or personal use that you can use to see each other and have a proper conversation. Many phones will give you the ability to have one to one video conversations but if you want to talk to more than one member of your family or friends at once its best to used s conferencing app such as Zoom, Webex or Google Hangouts.
It’s not just chatting you can do while using these apps, why not try getting creative and doing something fun as a group. Why not set up a quiz with everyone taking a round as quizmaster? You could pretend you’re all at the pub and have a drink while you’re on the call; only if you are over 18 of course! You could also put on some music and have your own virtual party. Maybe see if you can attempt a board game on the call. We’d love to hear what else you can come up with.
Gaming
If your family or friends enjoy games, then getting into the world of online gaming might be a good option to stay connected and having fun with them. There’s a wide range of games that have online features now, so you can likely find something that suits everyone. You can play traditional console games using online multiplayer, or PC games. For something lighter, there are plenty of mobile games that you can play with others using your Wi-Fi.
If you have plenty of time to use, why not try organizing tournaments of games with your friends and family. The competition will give you plenty to talk about and catch up on from afar and will allow you to be playing a part in their lives even if you can’t accompany them on activities in person. Because of the range of games that you can play online, you could even try playing something new that is a favourite of one of your friends or family member. This way you can learn from them and have a new fun experience together.
Watch parties
If games are not your thing, don’t worry, there are other activities you can bring online! If you enjoy going to concerts and gigs with your loved ones you may be able to find concerts that you can stream online. If you all tune in at the same time, you can chat using social media or text and enjoy the virtual concert experience together as if you were at the gig together in person. During the current Lockdown, many big artists have said they will hold virtual concerts, so now is the perfect time to get this going.
It’s not just gigs though; you can also have film and TV Viewing parties virtually. This can be executed simply by putting both on a film or TV show that you find on streaming and chatting about it using social media/text as you watch, or you could call one another for a more natural conversation. However, companies such as Netflix have now introduced built-in ways to watch and chat at the same time, giving you an easy way to hold your own remote viewing parties with your loved ones.
These are scary and difficult times for us all but staying close and connected to those friends and family we hold dear will help us through it.
And if you ever find yourself far away from them again for whatever reason, follow our tips and you should be able to stay together however far away you are.
