Tips for keeping in touch with friends

March 22, 2020 3:16 PM

What are you doing to keep in touch with your friends in these trying times, especially friends you used to see on a regular basis? I would like to do a little better at it, but don't want to be online 24/7. Thanks!
posted by ferret branca to Human Relations (8 answers total)

Cocktail and dinner dates via skype/zoom. There's no safe way to see friends & acquaintances without being online. If you want to limit the time spent online, do these events in groups rather than 1:1. I did cocktails with one group of friends on Friday evening, my partner and I did dinner with another group of friends last night (we all coordinated takeout from the same local restaurant we're hoping makes it through this in order to make it feel more like dinner "together"). Maybe 3 hours online across the two events.
posted by amelioration at 3:30 PM on March 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

We've been using the House Party app to great effect.
posted by saladin at 5:15 PM on March 22, 2020

Response by poster: (To be clear, I do know I can't go out and see friends. I am just looking for ideas that are not, like, chatting or being on twitter constantly, which are the sorts of things I tend to default to.)
posted by ferret branca at 5:31 PM on March 22, 2020

We've been doing The Virtual Happy Hour show via Facebook with a group of friends. Someone does something (cooking, Scrabble strategy discussion, playing an album start to finish, etc.) and goes live on FB and we all talk about it. We've also done Zoom happy hours and cooking shows where we can all see each other and talk in real time. I'm looking into JackBox so some of us can game together.
posted by cooker girl at 5:41 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

There is also the option of the old-fashioned phone call or postal mail.
posted by NotLost at 5:48 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been using the Marco Polo app with a group of friends that normally keep up with each other through Slack and it's been pretty great.
posted by miratime at 6:12 PM on March 22, 2020

Jackbox games via google hangouts. the audio is awful because not everyone has a headset but it's hell of a lot better than no contact at all. (one person buys it and shares their screen via Hangouts or Zoom, everyone uses their phones as a the answer-entry device, easy party games, no "gamer" knowledge required :-) )
marco polo is also good for async video chat.
posted by affectionateborg at 4:14 AM on March 23, 2020

I'm doing at least one 1-on-1 phone or video chat per day, with a different person per day. I also attend a couple of online 12 step meetings per day.

I hear you about the always-online piece of it. Just so I'm not LOOKING at a screen, I'll put on a podcast or listen to an audiobook. (I'm not at home and there are no books here, so I'm kind of limited in my non-screen options.)
posted by Sheydem-tants at 4:53 AM on March 23, 2020