Staying Social While Social Distancing

While in quarantine, social gatherings have been advised against, or outright banned, making interactions with family and friends difficult. While completing my master’s in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), I made lifelong friends who I wanted to keep in contact with especially during these unforeseen circumstances. On July 27, 2020, I created a GroupMe chat for my closest friends from NSU and arranged weekly sessions to play video games and watch movies over video conferencing. The suggestion was a success as many of my friends have participated in the video hangouts and our gatherings are still going strong in 2021.

I decided to interview three of my friends who regularly participate in the hangouts to determine if the meetings were beneficial. The questions I asked are listed below:

1. What was your reaction to the initial idea of meeting virtually every week?

2. Are the weekly meetings helping you to stay social during quarantine?

3. Do you have a favorite memory from the virtual gatherings?

4. How would your quarantine feel different if we did not have these virtual meetings to stay connected? Or would no difference exist?

5. Would you like to continue virtual meeting post-quarantine? Why or why not?

Answers are presented collectively by each individual.

Veronica Diaz

1. I really liked the initial idea, as it provided a way to keep in touch with good friends from the CRDM program that I had not been in regular contact with since graduating.

2. Yes!

3. I have so enjoyed both the game and movie nights, but my favorite thing about them must be the running commentary during bad movies.

4. My quarantine would have been even more isolated had it not been for these meetups.

5. Yes! I enjoy hanging out with my friends and given that we live far apart (regardless of the pandemic), this is the best way to get everyone together.

Adam DeRoss

1. My initial reaction was one of relief. For me, one of the best aspects of being in my Graduate program was the sense of community it gave me and the friends I had made. Finishing the program was already causing some anxiety in that regard, as I was uncertain whether my cohort and I would be able to do things together as often as we did while in school. This got worse as the pandemic dashed any hopes of meeting up and saying farewells in-person. Being able to keep up with everyone, regardless of physical distance, helps me keep a sense of normalcy in quarantine.

2. The weekly meetings are absolutely helping. I have already used technology to connect with others online way more since the pandemic started, but the weekly meetings that this group started were the catalyst for that. I think it helped point out that I could still have a social life and stay connected to those close to me, even if it was not ideal circumstances.

3. I absolutely love all the inside jokes that we have managed to come up with since starting these meetings. I cannot choose a single memory of one of these as each new one that we come up with can carry us through the months. Being able to associate these weekly meetings with such good humor automatically makes me feel good whenever I think about it or when it is almost time to meet.

4. I think my quarantine would be different, although I hang out with my other friend group online often. Having a weekly scheduled meeting to meet up with my cohort is great as it gives my quarantine some structure and something to look forward to. When the pandemic first got bad, a lot of recurring events and activities that had become huge parts of my like (like doing my weekly radio show or hosting movie nights at the Writing and Communication Center) were suddenly cut off early without warning. For the first few weeks I was really distressed at the fact that I did not really get to have my last show or the last movie night before graduation. Having this weekly event has kind of restored the feeling I used to get when looking forward to those events pre-COVID-19.

5. If there is anything that being in quarantine has taught me, it is that we should never forget about the means available to us for connecting with others. Pre-COVID-19, I would almost never communicate with my friends other than in-person or through simple text messages. But having the weekly video meetings has proven to be engaging and social on a similar level, and I would like to continue doing it especially when there are points in our weeks where meeting up in person is not possible.

Ricky Finch

1. Initially I thought it would be a fun way to stay in touch and share the lockdown experience with each other. I did not expect the lockdown to be an extended thing so the video technology being new provided an easy way to hang out.

2. I look forward to the weekly meeting because it helps me feel connected to people. Considering that I have moved during quarantine, it is especially nice because I am so far away now, and video meetings are my primary way of staying connected.

3. Game nights are always fun. After my thesis live-streaming video presentation was special.

4. Yeah, quarantine would have been drastically different. The virtual meetups gives me something to look forward to in addition to human interaction which early on was tough to come by.

5. Of course. I am 800 miles away and staying connected is important.

Overall, my friends have found the weekly virtual video hangouts to be beneficial to their social life during quarantine and want the gatherings to continue for a long time. Personally, my favorite part of meeting with my friends each week is the laughter we share. I’ve really enjoyed creating new inside jokes with my friends and creating more memories in the process.

How have you been staying social while socially distancing? Drop a comment below!