I have friends all over the country, I’m odd like that. But the problem is, how do I stay in contact with them? How can I talk to them? There is of course Skype, which a lot of us have, but if you want more than one person in a Skype video call, you must pay, and as teenagers, we can’t really.
So when some of us updated to Google+ and found that a hang out was a lot less expensive than Skype(it’s free!), we all turned to this.
In a google hang out you can have up to nine other people at once, without paying. The sound is good, and the video is good, and as far as I can see, it works just as well as Skype, I have had no problems with it, that weren’t caused by our own stupidity… Yeah, oops on that front.
There are some things that get added if you are a teen (and google knows this – ie you’ve got your actual date of birth on your account). If someone who is not in your circles is brought into a hangout, then G+ will pull you out, and ask if you want to talk to them or not. If you don’t, then you just press no, avoiding any awkward conversations with the other party. It also gives you a reminder of how to exit every time you go into one, I have found this very annoying, but also, it is a useful bit of information if ever I needed it.
G+ hangouts have an array of apps to use within them, one that my friends and I use is “google effects” I think it’s called, and what it does, is give you sound effects to use, glasses, beards, clown heads, and a Mohawk are just some of them, now you may think they are stupid, and they are, but its great fun to play with them, and laugh at your friends cause they look like idiots.
There are a few things about it though… If you’re not thirteen, then you can’t have a google account (check their terms and conditions), and therefore, can’t use any of this stuff, my friends and I hit this obstacle, as we’ve had the problem of not living close, since we were about three.
But over all, free, fun and a good way of staying in touch, face to face. Thanks for reading!
Recent comments