google hangout: an awesome virtual family reunion

Not too long ago, two of my best friends who are Laila’s aunts, (one lives in New York and one lives in Washington D.C.), invited us to hang out one night. So last minute, before we put Laila to bed, we decided to hang out on a whim. No, we did not fly super fast private jets, (I wish), but even easier…we hung out on Google.

It was pretty cool. There we were, all 6 of us, in our respective homes in San Diego, New York and D.C., hanging out like we would in person. Talking, chatting, and laughing, but with the added bonus of using silly Google effects, (see pic above… that’s not a real cake and our daughter does NOT have a mustache and beard in real life haha).

It felt like Skype/FaceTime meets conference calls meets emoji.

Here are the amazing pros I found when I used it:

• Hangouts works on computers, Android and Apple devices, so you can connect with everyone, and no one gets left out.=, (we have all Apple devices but my friend Binny who started the hangout has PC- but it still worked!)
• You can any Hangout into a live video call, which we did, with up to 10 friends or simply search for a contact to start a voice call from your computer.
• You can send photos or emoji, see when people are engaged in the Hangout and message friends anytime, even if they’re not connected at the moment. It reminds me of AIM from back in the day that way or currently Skype if you keep it on and stay idle, except its more of a community than Skype is, like Facebook in a way.

Speaking of Facebook, I heard that Facebook offers ooVoo which has many of the same capabilities as Google Hangout. Haven’t tried ooVoo yet since I am like Google Hangout, but if you have, would love to hear your thoughts on either below!

Try it out and hang out with your family across the globe tonight:)

-Puja