Fun Ways to Keep in Touch with Friends Online

With everyone spending more time at home, it’s natural to want to find ways to stay connected with family and friends and have some fun. Being at home doesn’t have to be a drag, especially if you use constructive ways to spend your time. One of the delightful things you can do is keep in touch with people in your life via digital means. Thankfully, there are tons of ways to make online hangouts even more interesting.

Host a Watch Party

There’s something about watching a show or movie and being able to laugh or shout with your friends at the same time. Teleparty, which used to be called Netflix Party, is a free streaming playback platform that lets you host, you guessed it, a watch party for your friends.

The latest version lets you connect to your Netflix, Disney, Hulu, and HBO accounts, so there are way more viewing options than before. Since it’s just a Chrome extension, everyone can enjoy it and it won’t interfere with other apps like Discord or Zoom in case you want to have a voice call or video chat simultaneously.

Have a Bingo Night

Let’s face it. Even though Bingo is usually associated with senior centers, it’s one of the best group activities for any age group to enjoy (especially if you involve fun prizes). And that’s just the classic version, too.

Online Bingo spruces things up by adding new elements that can make it more engaging even if you’re all far apart. If you’re with a group that wants a little something more than the traditional version, there are versions with new themes and extra gameplay. The roster of games on Foxy Bingo includes a super popular “Friends” title from the beloved ‘90s sitcom. This could be the perfect way to bond with the gang online, have a little competitive fun, and socialize all in one.

Attend Virtual Classes

A lot of platforms are introducing digital lessons nowadays. Though online learning isn’t exactly a brand new thing, there has been a surge in options ever since everyone got relegated to home-based activities.

You can keep up your fitness together by doing online yoga classes or flex your creative lessons with a painting class. Learning is always more fun when it’s collaborative, and when you’ve got friends with you, it just becomes even more comfortable and enjoyable.

Race Each Other on Mario Kart

Mario Kart is a classic multiplayer video game that has dominated the gaming scene since the early ’90s. Its latest iterations let players connect with each other on various platforms. Though the most popular one is arguably the Nintendo Switch version, there’s also Mario Kart Tour available on mobile phones.

Since it’s compatible with both iOS and Android, you can race with your friends anytime for free. You can even run it while you’ve got a chat app open in case you want to talk while you play.

Battle Wits with Some Trivia

A trivia night is another fun event that you can totally pull off remotely. Just start a video call while syncing some quiz apps, and it will feel just like your usual get-together, remembering random facts along the way to one-up the other team. You could even just have one “trivia master” pull up some info or quizzes on their browser and ask all the questions, or you can make use of actual apps that offer multiplayer games. With the popularity of the Jackbox party packs and QuizUp, there’s really no shortage of topics that can bring out both the laughs and competitiveness in all your friends.

This option is especially fun if you find topics that every person in the group is pretty passionate about. It’s because of that endless entertainment that some of the most popular game shows ever have had something to do with trivia.

Staying home doesn’t have to be a lonely experience, especially if you plan a fun hangout with the options above.

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