What Else You Can Do Online With Your Friends Except For Zoom Parties

Nothing stimulates progress faster than the lack of opportunities. For a long time now, we’ve been following the trend for online socialization and working remotely. However, this trend has seen a great boost after the 2020 lockdown. And in fact, we have managed to adapt really quickly. While working from home has been a usual thing for a long time now, socializing and keeping in touch with friends and family online is the task we have yet to accomplish. 

Have you ever heard about Zoom parties? It’s a thing! Just a year ago, Zoom was used mainly for work conferences and calls, now people are having online parties with its help. This way you can spend your birthday, corporate party, or even your wedding without breaking any of the social distancing rules. YSL Fashion House went the extra mile. The brand brought together over 500 people from all over the world and hosted the first international online fashion party.

What are other options?

As this trend is gaining ground, more new options appear. You can do a lot of things together with your friends without leaving the comfort of your homes. Let’s look at a few options that come to mind.

Playing games online

The Internet has a lot of different games and entertainment venues to offer. There are even dedicated PayPal iGaming sites.

Researches show that around 165 million people in the United States play video games. This is about 50% of the country’s population. And besides video games, there are online casinos and poker networks, where you can compete with your friends and maybe even win some money. There are lots of options — playing chess or checkmates, entering tournaments and playing against each other. But remember that it’s just for fun, don’t let the competitiveness affect your friendship.

Try online training

Diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle have long been called an invisible epidemic. Although it is hardly possible to walk ten thousand steps around the apartment, you can still try not to lie down or sit. Download one of the home workout apps to your phone, try different exercises from YouTube every day, or compete with your friends online in holding a plank or doing push-ups. You can even offer your friends to schedule a few training sessions a week — you can do yoga or functional exercises together. This way it’s easier to stay motivated and not let the laziness win.

Watch movies together

Nothing connects people more than watching a horror movie together. Services like Netflix offer teleparties — simultaneous watching of one movie on different devices. You can do this on the platform itself or using other services. There’s also a more sophisticated alternative to that. Since you can't go to a concert or theater, take advantage of the ‘magical powers’ of the Internet. You can watch a production of the Vienna State Opera, or a concert of your favorite performer. Just look for them on a streaming platform or pay for a ticket on YouTube. If you wish, you can even dress up as if you are actually heading to the theater.

Try group meditation

The quarantine can be a good opportunity to keep quiet and start meditating. You can do this on your own or with a guided meditation app. Such apps usually have a free trial period during which you can decide whether to buy the full version or not. Or, if you already have the meditation experience — try engaging your friends as well. You can simply arrange a group call, explain the technique to everybody, and try practicing it together. It’s not only a good way to cope with stress and stay motivated but also a great opportunity to help your friends lift their spirits.

Arrange a reading group

Surely, you have paper books that you bought but didn’t read. That’s probably also true for your friends. And this doesn’t even have to be books. We keep a lot of articles in the hope that we will get to them later but we never do. Now, when you are locked up at home anyway, you can finally get to them and encourage your friends to do so, as well. You can agree on the book or article to read together. And then once a week, you can gather on Zoom to discuss them. Potentially, this can lead to something more — maybe you or one of your friends have been dreaming about writing for a long time. It’s time to do it and get feedback from the closest people. Besides, all of you can try to write a story and then, you can discuss it together.

Experiment with cooking

Studies show that 60% of young people really enjoy eating with family and friends during the lockdown. And they want to maintain this tradition after the lockdown ends. Of course, you can order delivery, but food can be more than just food. You can make cooking entertaining and even challenging. Take a look at the food you have and make up a dish from the products that are available in your kitchen. Then, try to cook together with friends. Organize a video call where you can cook something together. To make it more interesting, you can all prepare the same dish and see who has made the best one. After that, you can all enjoy it together and turn it into a Zoom party.

Conclusion

The lockdown period can be a great opportunity to do stuff you have never had time for. Put your thoughts in order, get new skills, continue self-development — the options are numerous. It is not necessary to spend all your time usefully, sometimes it can really help to play games and binge-watch some series. But doing it together with your friends can make it a lot more interesting, and help you get through these difficult times.