HANGING out and spending time with people used to only be possible in person. Before easily accessible online connecting technology, we didn’t really have much of a choice.
While the telephone helped in shaking things up, it’s still a primitive tool by the standards of today.
The arrival and ubiquity of the World Wide Web led to a revolution, but it’s a revolution some of us would overlook or ignore. With that in mind, we want to look at some popular ways the people in Saddleworth can use our online systems to hang out, shoot the breeze, or whatever other term you put on spending time together.
The Online Hangout
The most convenient way for people to hang out and spend time together is through entirely digital means. Even if you’ve got friends outside of Saddleworth who live thousands of miles away, connecting through online chat systems is simple to set up and enjoy no matter your level of technical expertise.
If you already have a favourite chat program, then that can be your best choice. Otherwise, we’d recommend Discord as a great place to start. Discord is available on computers and mobiles and is an easy place to create a chat room for your friends to hang out in, or look for existing groups focused on an area of interest to you. Even better, Discord allows shared video chat, screen sharing, watching videos together through YouTube, and even some games like minigolf and Uno.
Combining Physical and Digital
Of course, group activities with friends don’t have to be remote all the time. Online systems can also be an effective way to just search for the physical activities that everyone loves. Bingo halls are a standout here in the UK and are so widespread that you can search their websites for ‘bingo near me’ to locate local games and plan a trip around Saddleworth, Oldham, or perhaps even further afield. You could also use online systems with games like bingo to take the online game to a public location like Lees Park or someone’s house if that’s what you prefer.
Potential in the Next Generation
Virtual and augmented reality are still a long way from being as common as the internet, but they hold immense potential. New virtual reality programs like VRChat are already opening the doors to fantastic and bizarre hangout opportunities, but Augmented Reality (AR) could raise these possibilities to the next level. With AR, you’ll one day be able to stream a virtual copy of your friends into your home, letting you share a more intimate and realistic setting even across oceans.
We tend to think of the internet as a disconnecting force because of how artificial it is by nature. This downplays just how powerful it is as a tool, however, with the web providing ways to connect to others like never before. Hanging out online might not be quite the same as doing it in person, but it can still be a fantastically fun approach that offers real advantages over doing things the old way. You can’t exactly turn down Martha in real life once she starts getting rowdy, but you can do it online, and she’ll never even need to know.
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