During the warmer months this year, a lot of creativity was applied to getting people together outdoors in ways that satisfied their social needs while keeping everyone safe from Covid-19. Now that it’s getting colder — at least, here in the northeastern U.S. and similar climes — outdoor socializing is becoming less practical. I suspect that will result in much of the creative energy that has been directed at finding ways to meet outdoors being aimed instead at inventing new opportunities to meet virtually.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been a lot done along those lines already. I blogged recently about my wife’s workout sessions with friends and relatives in five different states. Another friend of mine is part of a writing group that meets on Zoom for a couple of hours each day. They’re not there to talk, just to be with each other as they each work on their own writing projects.
But even with everything that has already been done, I expect that even more creative ideas for getting together online will emerge as lower temperatures and a resurgent pandemic keep people indoors. And many of these will go beyond merely replacing activities people used to enjoy face-to-face; they will involve entirely new opportunities to connect virtually. Get-togethers that would never have been considered when they would have required traveling a long distance or finding a suitable venue will become commonplace.
At least let’s hope that’s what happens. The alternative is a very lonely winter.