How To Stay Connected During COVID-19

The current COVID-19 restrictions have changed the ways on how we stay connected on a personal and community level.The community has listened to the advice and have been regulated on their approach to keeping distance. The results of the social distancing have forced residents to find other ways of staying connected to each other.

Social media has naturally become a driving force in building relationships and sharing life events. Depending on your age and preference social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter are showing a huge rise in user engagements. It is amazing how creative people have become. Of course, these platforms relay health issues that are of concern within their community. On the other side, we have seen the way people try and make the most of the situation through humour. All of these posts, videos, tweets and so on create a bond between users.

Here are some novel ways to stay connected 

Video calls – They are at least 3 ways to video call your friends. You can use your mobile phone, laptop/tablet or desktop computer. There are multiple services that act as a gateway to connects you to your family and friends. The popular choice has been Zoom. But even Google has a platform called Google Meet which is simple to use and has some unique features such as voice to text. Or you can opt into Facebook Live or Facebook Messenger. Mobile Apps such as WeChat and Whatsapp also provide video calls. The best way to use these services is via your wifi internet connection. Using your mobile provider data can drain your data limits.

Create a Games Night

Now that you have become an expert in video calls why not create a game night between your family and friends. You can literally set up your TV screen to display all the participants. Your games can be based on Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, cards and so on. It is up to your imagination. You could even create community gamers and run a competition that involves people in your postcode. There is an App out there called Houseparty that allows up to 8 people in a “room” at a time. Houseparty provides games such as HeadsUp, Chips and Trivia.

Create Tips sharing page

If you use Facebook you can create a community group that shares there own personal tips on how they do things. You would be surprised how many simple brilliant ideas that have been passed down from generation to generation and never shared with anyone. The tips can be from growing vegetables, making clothes, cooking and so on. Even the simplest thing such as showing someone the shortcuts on a computer keyboard can be handy. Control c = copy, control v = past, alt tab swaps between windows, control f lets you search for words on a page and so on.

Online fitness classes

Why not create your own online fitness group. Set aside a time and have a preformatted routine. Have each member run their own “class” in turn. And once again you can use your new-found video skills to set up your virtual class of students.

Business Connections

Reach out to similar people who are isolated because of their work or have been temporarily made redundant due to the Coronavirus. You can swap ideas, offer your services if your work is online related or formulate new business ideas and ventures. Or perhaps you or that person needs to talk to someone that has been displaced and share a common frustration.

Be Compassionate

There are a lot of negative effects from the Coronavirus. Individuals and families are feeling the effects. If you are not as unfortunate as some then maybe you can help them in some way. Nothing brings a community together more than the support of its residents. There are those that don’t know or are too proud to ask for help. Find a little bit of time to see if you can seek out these people and help them.

Google Meet Video Calls Platform

Google Meet Video Calls