Reconnect With Others

Video/Audio Live Chat

Whether you have a video/web camera, a headphone mic, regular microphone or just your computer's audio ... you can reconnect with your family using these methods. Some ways are easier than others, but all of them will work to help you reconnect. You can see a friendly face, or you can hear your children/grandchildren that you are currently missing.

Zoom was originally set up to help businesses hold meetings in virtual chat/video rooms. You don't have to pay for this service to use it for smaller groups. Even if you have a large group, the only limitation is that everyone will get knocked out of the room after 40 minutes when you have 3 or more people in the room at the same time. Even then, all you have to do it sign back into the chat room via the link you had before. So, no worries. Just in case you don't have a microphone or camera, it has a chat room feature as well. So, you can still use it to see your family and friends. Many colleges are using this product right now for their online lecture classrooms too. I've been using it for my classes at Macomb Community College in Michigan. It works great!

Skype has been used for years as a "phone call" like program over the web. Many have used it for audio or video purposes. There are free and pay options for this program as well. I haven't used it in a few years, but I know of others who still use it regularly.

Social Media Apps

Social media sites and apps have many uses. Some like Instagram are more for sharing images with different captions or comments. While others like Tumblr can be used as your own blog sharing images, updates on your life, what you like, etc. Then you have Facebook that has all of both of those and a whole lot more.

Everyone has their own preference for which site(s) they enjoy. Some people are on a lot of different ones. It is not uncommon for someone to share their pictures on more than one site/app as well. The three sites I have mentioned already have both websites and apps for their services. They are also all free. Each site has their own help section as well to get you started. Check them out! You could spend minutes or hours on each of them depending on what you find there.

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