Being stuck at home is tough. Humans are social beings and we crave social interactions. However, in order to stay safe, many of us have sacrificed our social lives for the well-being of ourselves and community. So, what do we do now that interacting with each other is allowed again? Some people are more comfortable interacting virtually, while others are more inclined to meet up in person, which can make connecting more difficult. Luckily, the internet is a wonderful tool that can help with this. There are lots of great ways to be social and get to know the people around you within your personal comfort level. Listed below are a few suggestions that may help you. 

Online Social Groups 

Facebook isn’t just for connecting with friends and family. There are various hobbyist groups on Facebook, from dog lovers groups, to crafts, to French speakers looking to work on their skills. There is something for everyone. Also, if you don’t want to use Facebook, there are other social platforms that offer free social gatherings. 

Watch Party 

If you are missing your established friends’ group, there is a chrome extension called Teleparty, that you can download onto your computer for free. This extension will allow you to watch movies with your friends and chat with them at the same time. You can set up a weekly virtual get-together/movie night and use it as a chance to catch up with people, and just generally stay connected.

Sign Up For a Class or Club

There are tons of classes being offered online right now, like cooking classes by professionals and art classes hosted by art galleries and museums, and you can even do virtual tours of far-away countries! This allows you to gain new skills, experiences, and also meet people with similar interests. Clubs such as Book Clubs and Writing Clubs, among others are also great ways to meet new people since there is usually a discussion aspect to these meet-ups.

Whatever you are looking for, great places to start are websites called Eventbrite or Meet-up.

What is one thing that you can do this week to ensure that you are staying social?

“Communication is merely an exchange of information, but connection is an exchange of our humanity.”

– Sean Stephenson