It’s fair to say 2020 has been a weird year, and while 2021 looks better, we’re not out of the woods yet. We’re now not far from a year on since coronavirus started spreading over the globe. Many countries have experienced lockdowns, restrictions on gathering, and been living under social distancing rules. Hopefully, with approved vaccines ready for distribution, it shouldn’t be too long before things get back to normal, but there are still challenges ahead. New strains of the virus are circulating and increasing in numbers, and rolling the vaccine is logistically complicated. What does this mean? Well, there’s probably more social distancing in our future, at least for the next six months or so. With that in mind, let’s look at the best ways you can socialize without physical contact.
Join a Discord Server
For many people, Discord has become tied to gaming. And while it’s true that every gaming community, including guilds, competitive groups, and social gamers, have a Discord server, there are also servers for just about everything. There are a couple of ways you can find the right server for you.
If you play a game like, say, World of Warcraft, you should be able to find the Discord server information for your guild in the guild info tab or by asking a guildie. If you want to find a server for your WoW realm, you can often find this by browsing the WoW subreddits – most medium to high populated realms will have their own subreddit. The same is true for almost all games – where there’s a gaming community; there will be a Discord channel.
Getting on the Discord scene can also help you find other servers not related to gaming. There are servers for just about anything. Servers for artists, wedding planning, book clubs, writers, movie-goers, the list goes on. Most people are active on 10s of servers, so the more people you talk to, the more your eyes will be opened to the other options available. You can also use the search function to try and find communities that match your hobbies and interests.
Play More Games
If you’re not currently playing a game, or are getting bored of the one you’re playing, then now is a great time to start. MMOs are a great choice because they require a decent time commitment and have a very active social component. You’re under no risk of completing the game in a few hours and looking for the next thing to do. Progressing in an MMO can take months, and by the time you’ve polished off those milestones, they’ll be new content for you to get stuck in to.
World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, Shadowlands, has just been released, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. If you played WoW in the past but fell out of love with it, now could be a great time to try it out again. Activision Blizzard has made some massive improvements to how the game works, so you’ll probably find the things you didn’t like about previous expansions have been addressed. If you want to start playing WoW again but don’t want to start from scratch or want to jump straight into the endgame content, you can buy WoW boosting services online.
If MMOs aren’t your thing, consider playing more player-led games with endless replayability like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Rocket League. These PvP based games always feel fresh because no two games are the same. If you’re struggling to get ahead, you can also buy Rocket League boosting services or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare boosting services online from other players.
Be Deliberate About Planning Online Activities
If you’ve found that you’re doing less socializing during the pandemic, we’ll let you into a secret. It’s because you’re not planning enough online social events. During non-pandemic times, our calendar would fill up naturally. You go out with friends, and someone says, “Hey, this was fun, shall we do it again Friday?” or “that new movie looks cool; anyone want to go see it?”. But when you see people less, this type of organic planning doesn’t happen. If you still want to connect with friends, you have to force it. Plan regular Zoom calls where you chat or do quizzes. Watch a movie over a call. Or plan to play games together. Playing games is a better option because the conversation can flow naturally – you don’t have to think up topics.
