Technology is all around us: this has helped connect people across countries and across social circles. From a multitude of free communication applications, to the continued development of smart phones, staying in touch with your family has never been easier.
Even if you are tech savvy, there are some ways that you can connect with your family that you might not have thought of. With a plethora of blog sites, creating a family blog or a family site is easy. How about family groups too?
The options are endless!
Digital Picture Frames
These have become all the rage in the past few years with the pandemic under way. Grandparents, parents, siblings, this is a perfect way to connect with anyone and at any time.
Most of the digital frames have two different ways to operate. Either there is an application that you upload photos to or you can send an email to the frame and the photo is automatically uploaded. No matter where you are, you can send a photo update to your family right away.
You can even construct albums with some of the frames.
This can also be a feature on an Echo Show (Amazon’s home organization tablet and photo album), however this is where the digital frame beats out Amazon. An Echo Show runs at about $250 while most digital frames are $150 or lower.
Voice and Video Call Apps
If you want something more intimate than a picture frame, then there are hundreds of communication applications that are available to everyone. Keep in mind some apps may not be available between phone models, but many of them are cross-compatible.
Two of the most popular video chat apps are Duo or FaceTime. These two options have made their way from webcams to front facing cameras in the past ten years. Apple bought FaceTime in 2011 after the company had built final additions to their safety procedures with video calls.
After the FaceTime brand was bought, Apple released the app on the iPad 2. From there, multiple applications have joined the fray. Duo is the Android version of FaceTime and the video calling doesn’t stop there. Most applications like WhatsApp and even social media accounts have options to allow you to video call someone. Similarly if you’ve been given a Microsoft 365 account for your studies you should learn to use MS Teams as that also offers free calls.
Make a Family Website
Is your family all around the world? Are you spread from Georgia to Washington, or do you live in a really big state like Alaska or Texas?
Distance and private sharing can be done in a multitude of ways to help keep you connected across the distance. Host trivia nights, post pictures of your recent adventures, share family updates, make fun holiday pages, and more!
Fortunately, most hosting sites have a free option to make things easier for you in the long run. Plus, most free plans include more options than you can shake a stick at. Keep it simple and easy so everyone can join in on creating the website.
If you want the ultimate security, some websites will offer password protection. Share the password only with family members and voila, you have a secured family website to share.
Set up Social Media Groups
There are so many social applications now, it’s hard to know where to start when trying to set up something for the family. There are three applications that are incredibly popular for this kind of connection: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
While each app goes in and out of popularity, they are each still very handy. For example, you can create a profile that only your family can subscribe to on Instagram. For Facebook, you can set up a private family group and Snapchat is a great way to share in the moment messages and photos!
Each application has some way for you to create groups. From the Facebook web application, you can create a group by selecting “Create Group” on the left hand side. With Snapchat, add as many family members as you want to any message. For Instagram, only let your family members sign into the account and only family members can follow the account.
Conclusion
This post has given just a taste of what you can do to connect with your family. There are now board game simulators provided on the internet or through gaming sites such as Steam. While the controls take a second to get used to, anyone can use the application and purchase games as you like.
If your family is more active, then how about investing in a GoPro? This lets you share your adventures with the family while keeping your hands free and you safe(er)! No matter how your family interacts, technology has some way for you to connect with them.
