5 online tips for keeping in touch with people you care about

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Photo by Jovaughn Stephens on Unsplash

Keeping in touch sometimes requires conscious effort. We meet a lot of people physically and virtually. Today as we embrace the new normal of working remotely, staying at home and practising social distancing, staying close to those you care about can be a challenge.

Technology can help.

Photo by Jovaughn Stephens

Here are 5 online tips that will help you keep in touch with those you care about.

  1. Video calls/meeting

Connect with your friends, co-workers and family using Google Duo. It is a free video calling app that allows you to spend time face-to-face when you can’t be together in person. The app has a feature called, “Knock, Knock” where you can get a preview of who is on the other side of the line before accepting the call. There is also Google Meet, a conferencing platform for secure video meetings.

  1. Play online games

You can easily find your friends on Google Play Games. You and your friends can compete on leaderboards, compare achievements and find new games together. Games are more fun with the Google Play Games app. Whether it’s a puzzle or an action game, with “Instant Play” you can play your next favourite game without having to install anything.

  1. Share videos 

Stay in touch by sharing entertaining, educational or inspiring YouTube videos. Simply go to the YouTube Channel page, in the browser address bar, copy the URL and paste it wherever you want to share it. Sharing videos with your friends and family can become a fun and exciting activity that creates a bond.

  1. Keep track of events

With Google Calendar, you can quickly schedule meetings and events with your friends, family and co-workers. The Google Meet link is available in your Calendar and you use it to host virtual meetings. You can share your calendar with others so they can find your schedule and fit in with theirs. While Google Calendar is used for work purposes, it is also a good organizational tool that makes sure you get reminders for planned events.

  1. Share Photos

Using Google Photos, pictures you take are saved automatically and can be shared privately and securely with those you care about so you can relive happy memories together.  You can make collages, movies or animations of your images and share them either by email, text or your favourite social network. Hundreds of photos can be shared at once with shareable links and high quality is always guaranteed. Note that the person you intend sharing photos with must also be using a Gmail account.