For the majority, the Internet has become a familiar and rather routine phenomenon. Many people use its capabilities in a very limited way, spending hours flipping through the news feed on social networks, watching videos of the same bloggers on YouTube. This all gets terribly boring!
Many do not even think about how many opportunities the Internet actually opens up for people today. To remedy this, we’ve put together a list of interesting activities on the web that you’ll definitely enjoy and will diversify your leisure time.
So what out of the ordinary things can you do on the Internet?
Visit another country via Google Maps
Just imagine, you’re standing on Westminster Bridge in the heart of London, and then a second later you’re walking in Central Park in New York. Then the next moment, you’re looking at the majestic Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Exciting, isn’t it? And this is not even fantasy!
All you need for this kind of travel is Google Maps. Just select an interesting location on the world map, click on the image of the yellow man in the lower right corner of the map, and move it to the selected point. A street, square, or other location will open in front of you, along which you can “walk” almost like in a video game. Very convenient, informative, and exciting!
Find out your family and surname history
A lot of people today don’t know their relatives earlier than their great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, but finding out is very interesting! You may not even have a clue who your ancestors really were. British geneticist Chris Tyler-Smith believes that today about 0.5% of all men on Earth are descendants of Genghis Khan. That’s about 16 million people.
There are many services on the Internet using which you can research the history of your ancestors and your surname. Of course, you shouldn’t trust them unconditionally, because some are more honest than others, but it’s worth finding a good one so you don’t miss out on your exciting family history..
Find friends you’ve lost touch with
You probably have old friends and acquaintances who you once simply drifted away from and haven’t reconnected with for years. For example, you never saw each other again after a children’s camp or transfer to a new school. Maybe it’s time to find out how they’re doing? What if they live on the next street, and you don’t even know it?
The easiest way to find someone is to search on social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), where you can enter their name, age, city of residence, and more. Or use a regular Google search — it often works. Or if you have a photo of the person you’re looking for, try using Google Image Search. This sometimes significantly increases your chances of success. And if you do make contact, switch to Skype, Zoom, House Party or similar to see each other again for the first time in years.
Make new friends or find love face to face
Chat roulettes are great for finding new friends and maybe even your soulmate. CooMeet Russian is ideal for men who want to meet attractive and interested girls. The girls themselves must go through identity verification at https://кумит.рф/en when they register. There’s also Monkey.cool — for those who like to combine communication with strangers and friends, or Shagle for those who need a location filter. Chatrandom is for fans of themed chat rooms, while Emeraldchat is for those who appreciate a non-standard approach to the choice of chat partner, and Chatspin is for those who care about anonymity. Or choose Omegle if you’re one of those who prefer the tried and tested classics among chat roulettes.
Chat roulette sites are a great way to have fun, meet new people, and improve your communication skills. Or maybe even find love.
Master a new profession and completely change your occupation
We live in a time when you can study and work right from home at the computer. Moreover, there are vast amounts of educational materials on the web in various fields. Many of these materials are completely free.
You can master programming, 3D modeling, sketching, photo and video editing, web design, and more. All you need is your desire to learn, perseverance, and time. And there’s plenty of time at home during our era of coronavirus restrictions. Seize the moment!
Start your own blog
If you have a lot of interesting thoughts that you want to share with the world, why not start a blog and share them with everyone. There are tons of blogging platforms: Medium, Telegra.ph, Blogger, LiveJournal and others. Plus, don’t forget about video blogs and mini-blogs on social networks, such as Instagram.
There are huge numbers of platforms for self-expression. And if your blog turns out to be really interesting and gathers a large audience, then you can earn very good money from it if you update regularly.
Open a small business on the Internet
Why not? If, for example, you know how to create something with your own hands (jewelry, children’s toys, leather wallets — anything), why not promote and sell it on the Internet? To do this, it’s not vital to develop a full retail website from scratch and spend a lot of money. For starters, Instagram or free website builders are fine. It is not difficult to work with them, and they fully fulfill their functions.
Learn a new language
There are tons of ways to improve your language skills. You can read articles by foreign authors, explore foreign sites, use anonymous video chats to meet foreign speakers, and so on. You can also sign up for online language courses to gain more systematic knowledge in a short time. But they are almost always paid and quite expensive.
There are also many mobile applications for learning foreign languages. Often, the basic functionality in them is available for free, and paid functions usually are not needed for everyone. You always have the application with you right on your smartphone, so you can practice the language almost any time.
Explore space through a telescope and photograph distant stars
Maybe you think that you can see space only from a large observatory. You need to go somewhere, arrange an excursion (which is not always possible), pay a lot of money… But wait, things are much simpler than that. There are many services with which you can explore space in real time.
For example, the iTelescopes service gives users access to 20 publicly available telescopes at four observatories, but for this, you need to register and pay. Another interesting resource is the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network. It allows you to take a picture of a space object. You select an object, specify the main parameters of the image and enter your email address. When the telescope has taken a photo, you’ll receive it by email. But the wait may take a long time. Finally, one more service for those who like to explore space: on Slooh.com, you can monitor the work of the telescope for only $5 a month, and even take over control for $25.
Become a volunteer and just do good deeds
Volunteers are not just people who help the homeless, organize animal shelters and aid victims of natural disasters. You can easily volunteer online and help others in many different ways:
- Become a virtual friend for a lonely person: support, communicate, show that no one in this world needs to be alone at all.
- Get a job as a nanny online: read books to children, tell interesting stories and simply entertain children, giving parents some time to relax.
- Work as an animator through the screen, entertaining children and adults. This service has taken off in many countries over the past few years. Especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Become a probation specialist. These people help former prisoners adapt to life at liberty, to realize their mistakes and not to commit them in the future. This is really important and effective work.
Of course, that’s not all. There are many more options on how to make your online experience useful for yourself and others. The main thing is your desire to make a difference.
Take advantage of the Internet’s opportunities
The Internet is a limitless platform for communication, interaction with other people, self-development, self-expression and help. It’s up to you how you use all these opportunities.
We hope that from this article you’ve learned something new and can now diversify your online experience. We wish you only exciting, rich and effective times online!