Virtual hangouts connect friends during social distancing

Emily Dvareckas, Photo Editor|April 10, 2020

Students bid their friends farewell for spring break at the beginning of March thinking they would see them the next week. Sadly, this wasn’t the case and it has now been just over one month since the last time most students saw their friends.

Living in the 21st century gives students a lot of opportunities to remain connected with friends. Being together virtually will never feel the same as being with them in person, but in a time of not knowing what the next day will bring, a virtual hangout is the best option to be with friends who may be hundreds of miles away.

Here are some ways to use technology to remain connected with friends. 

FaceTime: For devices working on an IOS platform, Apple has made it possible to connect with multiple friends using Group FaceTime. People can add up to 32 friends on one call, making it a great option to connect with a big group of friends. It is also a great way to work with classmates to help get through schoolwork as a group and not alone. 

Google Hangout: Google Hangout is a great alternative to FaceTime for people who want to do more on a call or do not have an Apple device. It is free to use and can support group chats of up to 150 people and video calls of 10 people. Hangout allows users to share videos, music, GIFs, emojis and more. Using Google Hangout is a virtual way of watching Youtube videos or listening to music together. 

Netflix Party: Netflix Party is a great way to hang out with friends and watch movies or TV shows together without having to struggle to set up a video call and pressing play at the same time. The app works on Google Chrome on desktops and laptops and can be installed as a Chrome extension. Netflix Party gives the opportunity for friends to communicate while having a fun movie night. 

Discord: Discord is an app widely used by people in the gaming community, but offers much more than just games. Having friends in a server keeps everyone connected with voice chat, video chat or just text chat. If no friends are available to talk, Discord allows users to find other users based on common interests. Discord differs from other communicating platforms as it gives users the ability to use multiple methods of communication on one platform.