How to communicate with your loved ones online
If you have family or friends living in another part of the world, going online could be the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to communicate. Here are the best ways to communicate online.
Do you have a sister who lives in England? A daughter and her family who live on the other side of the country? If so, communicating online can be one great way for you to stay up-to-date on birthdays, school achievements and other exciting life events that can be difficult to keep up with if you don’t live near your family.
With technology continuing to evolve and companies looking to make the communication between people faster and easier, there’s a website, application or tool out there that’s suitable for you.
Skype
One of the most popular platforms for communicating with someone is Skype. This handy tool allows you to text, voice or video call anyone in the world for free, as long as the other person is also using Skype. You can still use the platform if you want to call a person’s mobile or landline phone but you’ll need to pay.
To get started, all you need to do is go onto the Skype website and download it for the device you want to use it with – that can be your laptop, iPad or mobile phone. You’ll also need an internet connection, preferably a broadband connection, and a device that has a webcam or camera capability, and speakers. There are a variety of how-to videos on the Skype website to teach new users how to use the software, such as checking audio and video settings, sending instant messages or calling phone numbers from any part of the world.
Millions of people around the world use Skype because it’s one of the easiest ways to connect with people. It’s easy, free (for people you call who also have Skype) and easy to use once you get the hang of it.
Facebook
The great thing about Facebook is the scale of people around the world who are using it, which means the chances of your friends and family being on there are high. It’s a social networking service where you create a profile, add friends (people you know) and who you can then private message or write comments on events, thoughts and images they post on their profiles.
It’s an easy way to share information and connect with friends and family on an almost daily basis, or whenever you want to use it. It’s free to join and create a profile, and if a loved one or friend is online at the same time, you can chat to each other for free. The other good thing about Facebook is you can join groups that share the same interests as you, such as Over Sixty!
Email
The sending of messages from one computer to another has become completely ingrained in our modern world. People use email to book doctor’s appointments, to ask for more information on an insurance policy, to send a Christmas card or to simply write messages to friends and family in a faster way than the traditional letter in the mailbox. As postage costs increase, more people are turning to email to communicate with their family.
It’s free to create an email account and to send and receive messages. To get started, there are a number of internet providers offering email options, such as Google Mail, Yahoo and Hotmail. To create an email account, all you need is a computer or a tablet and an internet connection. If you’re not too sure about how to get started, Telstra offers video tutorials to help you learn everything there is to know about emails.
WhatsApp
This handy smartphone messaging app is great for communicating across mobiles for free! At least for the first year. Afterwards, its 99 US cents to use it. For those with an android smartphone or iPhone, you can download this app from Google Play or the iTunes app store. It uses your 3G or wi-fi connection (when available) to message with friends and family, which is great as a more cost-effective alternative to SMS texting.
It has become so popular that Facebook bought it in February. What makes WhatsApp popular compared to other similar apps is its simplicity and reliability. The team behind it have made it their mission to make getting messages from one person to another in the most reliable and efficient manner possible, which is great for us!