Christmas Day Alone Use Technology To Go Home

Christmas Day home alone? Being alone during the holidays happens to many people in the United States every year. Sometimes people can’t take the time away from work to make it home for Christmas. Other times folks don’t have the money to make a trip home. Regardless of the reason you might be spending this Christmas Day without your friends and family, here are 5 ways you can use technology to spend the day, or at least part of the day, with your loved ones. These solutions are for technologically savvy folks who are in good standing with family members and want to spend time with them, but just can’t this year.

Have you used video chat yet? According to the latest statistics, by December 25, 2010, only about 23 percent of adults have used computer based video chat and only 7 percent have used video chat on a mobile phone device. If you’re spending Christmas Day alone this year and you don’t want to be alone, try out video chat to spend part of the day with your family and/or friends.

Assuming you have a more recent computer or laptop and an internet connection, a VoIP solution like Skype is a great way to video chat because it’s free. Here is what you’ll need:

1. A Skype or other type of VoIP account
2. A web camera, either built into your computer or an add on.
3. An internet connection the faster the better, (DSL or better)
4. Your family will need all of these things too.

If you have all of this already set up, perfect! If not, maybe this is the Christmas you upgrade and get set up so you can use this amazing technology to stay in touch with your long distance family in a more face to face way.

This is a great way to use technology to combat the lonliness blues on Christmas Day. You can set a time so you can be “involved” in the special times of the day, opening presents, watching sports, hanging out, mealtime, etc.

Another variation on this internet Video chat solution is to use your gaming device like Play Station 3. These gaming devices can now be used for many tasks, but video chat is a very cool way to stay in touch with friends and family who have the same equipment and connections. The video below shows how this works.

If you have a smart phone with the capability to communicate face to face and your family members do to, then you can arrange to connect this way.  However, mind your and your family’s rate plans so this doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.  This is why I like the Skype solution, free and unlimited time you can spend together and the screen is bigger.

If the first two technological solutions won’t work for you and you have access to Facebook, you can use the Facebook chat and type to each other in real time with your family.  You can also use video on Facebook and have them do the same for some psuedo face to face time. How to do it:

1. You need a way to record a video, your phone will work.
2. Record videos of yourself talking to your family.
3. Upload directly to Facebook.
4. Your family will need the same capability to make a video response.

Make your short videos, post to Facebook (you can make your video private so only people you allow to see them can). Then your family can view your video, make their own and post back.  Rinse and repeat as often as you like.

You can also take a video with your phone and then email it to video@facebook.com and if you have your phone connected to your Facebook account the video will post immediately.  
Facebook Photo Album Share

A lower tech version of the Facebook Video Share is to scan old family photos into a Facebook Photo Album. Find old Christmas pictures, or recent photos your family hasn’t seen yet. Or go out Christmas morning and shoot some new photos by Christmas scenes in your city.

Upload those photos and create a photo album on Facebook.  Let your family know when it’s ready to view. Now it's their turn, ask them to create one for you. You can use Facebook to chat and share all day. They can add mobile uploads of the family activities all day, so you can feel like you aren’t missing out.

I mentioned this already but don’t forget Facebook chat. You can also chat with family members all day as well. My daughter and I often watch events on TV and chat about what is happening this way.

Last but not least, use the most low tech solution to stay in touch with your family on Christmas Day. Text often or just spend time talking with all of your family members. Put the phones on speaker phone and be part of the fun. Finally, before Christmas Day arrives, let your long distance family know that even though you can’t be there physically, you would like to spend the day with them as much as possible through the use of technology, and share these links and tips with them so they can get all set up as well.