Virtual beer pong and Zoom dinner dates: 9 creative ways millennials are staying connected with their friends while self-isolating at home

People across the nation are meeting online for five-o-clock drinks. Ray A. Smith explored the virtual happy hour trend for The Wall Street Journal.

One person he spoke with, Carl Haley, said he hosted a virtual "Quarantini Party" with friends after canceling plans due to coronavirus fears, in which they all met on Zoom with martinis in hand. "It turned out to just be amazing," Haley said.

Kelley Kitley, a psychotherapist and author, told Smith that virtual happy hours are a way "to make some kind of normalcy out of such a not normal situation. To find some ways to have consistency and to have things to look forward to. To schedule a date with somebody that you would have coffee with, but through the phone."

This is the cutest thing in the whole entire world 😭😭😭#virtualhappyhour pic.twitter.com/YmWYgbAiUd

"This weekend I did my first virtual hangouts and saw friends we rarely get to see for happy hours," she tweeted. "I can also confirm that virtual beer pong is possible, you just need 4 phones and FaceTime — one on each couple, one on each set of cups."

Virtual beer pong is the new "Saturday night."

This weekend I did my first virtual hangouts and saw friends we rarely get to see for happy hours. I can also confirm that virtual beer pong is possible, you just need 4 phones and facetime - one on each couple, one on each set of cups. pic.twitter.com/Uhpz8cVP6l

I really miss the gym, but I'm making the most of my water gallon jugs as substitute weights. If you have a roommate, consider doing a weekly online workout class together — my roommate and I plan to start a yoga class together this week. There are plenty of YouTube channels, like Fitness Blender, teeming with free at-home workouts. Many fitness studios have also started live-streaming workout classes for free, reported Sophie Lewis for CBS.

I also have an upcoming yoga date with a friend who lives in Pennsylvania. That's going to involve my phone and my computer — one to play the livestream of the class and the other to FaceTime my friend.

Houseparty gives a split screen look at callers in the "house" and allows eight people on the call at once, reported Mary Meisenzahl for Business Insider. It also allows you to play game options with whoever you're video chatting with, such as entertainment trivia.

You can also send a Facemail, which is like leaving a video message for someone that they'll get whenever they open the app next.

Like Snapchat, Marco Polo lets you send messages that are only a few seconds long. But unlike Snapchat, the app saves videos so you can have a running conversation with your friend or a group of friends.

Marco Polo was created by a company called Joya Communications, which says on its website that its mission is "to help people feel close no matter the distance, enabling people to remain connected in convenient and meaningful ways."

Right now, I have two shared Google Docs going on that make me feel connected with others.

One is a running list of social distancing activities and recommendations with friends and friends of friends, ranging from online workouts to podcasts. We all drop our suggestions in there as they come to us.

I also have a Google Doc labeled "Quarantine Diaries" with my roommate. We write in silly quotes or boring things documenting quarantine life. Journaling is a great way to process emotions amid this historic time period, but doing it with my roommate makes it a fun, shared experience rather than an individual one. It also helps us creatively keep in touch if one of us gets sick and has to quarantine ourselves to our room.

The extension is only available for Google Chrome browsers. While it's been around for several years, the extension is gaining renewed attention amid the coronavirus outbreak, reported Charlie Wood for Business Insider. It received an update during the pandemic that added seven extra servers.

Whether you're living by yourself or just don't have a decent arsenal of board games, you can always turn online to play games with friends.

A few of my coworkers have found a way to play one of my favorite board games — Settlers of Catan — online. You can play with friends on the computer, a mobile app, or Steam, an online gaming platform.

The same is true of other board games, like Monopoly.