Here's the problem with the standard "let's catch up on video" suggestion: it's essentially a meeting. There's an implicit structure — everyone joins, you go around the virtual "table", there's a host and guests, someone has to say "right, shall we call it there?" at the end. It's fine for check-ins. It's painful for hanging out.
Real hanging out is different. It's ambient, low-pressure, side-conversation-y. It can include long comfortable silences. You can pop in and out. It doesn't require anyone to perform.
Here are seven approaches that get closer to that — ranked roughly by how well they replicate the "we're just chilling together" energy.
The 7 Methods
Virtual Social Spaces (The Closest Thing to "Going Out")
Purpose-built virtual social platforms — like ChiffTown — give you an actual place to go rather than a meeting to attend. You pick a venue (pub, lounge, nightclub, cinema), walk in, and the video chat is already running. There's no agenda. People drop in when they feel like it. Multiple rooms mean sub-conversations happen naturally. It feels more like going to your local than scheduling a call. This is the best option if you want genuine unstructured hangout time.
Shared Activity + Video
The secret to making video calls feel less like meetings: give everyone something to do with their hands. Cook the same recipe on camera. Do a puzzle race. Work on your own projects in parallel in a "co-working session". The shared activity removes the pressure to entertain each other constantly — the task fills the silence so you don't have to.
Watch Parties
Watching something together while on video chat is dramatically better than watching alone and texting about it after. Synchronised playback keeps everyone at the same moment — you laugh at the same things, gasp together, argue about the plot twist in real time. ChiffTown's Starlight Cinema has this built in. External services like Teleparty also work with Netflix, YouTube etc.
Multiplayer Games with Voice
Games are one of the best social lubricants online. The key is the voice — text chat during games is too slow and misses all the vocal humour. Online board games (Jackbox, Skribbl.io, Gartic Phone), party games, or even simple retro arcade games work brilliantly when you can hear each other. ChiffTown's Pixel Palace Arcade has built-in games alongside live video — so you're playing and seeing each other's faces at the same time.
Long-Form Audio (Without Always Being on Camera)
Being on camera for 3+ hours is exhausting. Audio-only hangouts — where you leave a voice channel open and dip in and out — are much more sustainable for long afternoons. Discord stage channels and voice rooms work well for this. The key is that it's always-on, not a scheduled call — you can go quiet for 20 minutes, come back, and the conversation continues.
Themed Social Nights
Giving a hangout a loose theme makes it feel more like an event and less like an obligation. "Terrible movie night", "show and tell" (everyone brings one thing to share), "pub quiz" (someone hosts, everyone else plays), "60s music night". The theme does the social heavy lifting — it generates content without anyone having to work for it.
Virtual Environments (For the Genuinely Ambient)
Some people find that being in a shared virtual space — even if you're just doing your own thing — has a presence-adjacent quality. Co-working in a shared virtual room, "studying together" in a virtual library, or just existing in the same digital space as someone you care about. It's not for everyone, but it works for a lot of people who just want company without performance.
How to Pick the Right One
It depends on the energy you're after:
- Casual, unplanned hangout → Virtual social space or always-on audio channel
- Group entertainment → Watch party or themed game night
- One-on-one catching up → Shared activity on video (cooking, drawing, walking on camera)
- Large group → Something with structure — quiz, Jackbox, watch party
- Regular weekly thing → Virtual venue with a consistent time (the "pub at 6pm Friday" slot)
The Shift Worth Making
The biggest shift in online hangout culture over the past few years: people stopped trying to replicate in-person socialising exactly, and started figuring out what online does differently well.
Online is better than in-person for: spontaneous last-minute meetups (no travel), bringing together people in different cities, low-commitment drop-in socialising, access to shared digital content.
In-person is better for: physical presence, food and drink, full sensory social experience.
The best online hangouts lean into the first list rather than apologising for not being the second. ChiffTown is built on that premise — it's not trying to simulate being in a real pub. It's trying to make "let's hang out online" feel like going somewhere, which is a thing that the internet can actually do.