How To Take Advantage of Webcam Chats in Social Networking

Most people have made friends on social media sites, and most have at least heard about webcam chatting, but what about combining them? As it turns out, this is the social networking version of combining peanut butter and chocolate. It might not be an obvious combination if you’ve never heard of it, but once you give it a try, you may wonder why it didn’t occur to you sooner. 

Take the typical social networking experience – people do it so they can connect with friends, and hopefully make some new ones too. Regardless of the kind of friendship you have in mind, social networking sites are there to help you connect with people who tick the right boxes. 

Is that really the best it can get, though? The average social networking platform is noticeably lacking in communication options – users can sometimes video chat with each other, but you’d never do that unless you already knew the person you were talking with. What if you could also meet people through webcam chats, like what Fruzo offers? Your interactions would be more varied, you’d have more confidence in the people you were talking to, and you’d actually have options for growing your friendship online. 

What are some of the best ways to use webcam chats on a social networking site? It’s pretty self-explanatory, but there are also a couple of pro tips below that you’ll be glad you didn’t have to figure out by yourself. By the time you’ve finished reading, you may even have some ideas of your own!

Webcam chats let you evaluate personalities, not just selfie skills

Let’s be real – some people are just too good at taking selfies. Once they figure out their best angles, they’re never going to take a picture from any other perspective. There are plenty of those types of pictures on the average social networking site, but that’s not all. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find the selfies that barely even belong on a family group chat with the caption “got my first smartphone”, let alone on a social media profile. 

Between one extreme and the other, it can be tough to know exactly what you’re dealing with. With webcam chats, on the other hand, you don’t have to depend on photos – you can see what people look like without all the forced angles. 

If people will be considering you through both your profile and webcam chats, it’s important that you get a few things right when you’re video chatting. Even if you have the coolest personality ever, there’s only so much it can do to make up for awful lighting. 

Let your clothes do the talking. Social media sites are full of people who are open to friendship, but the kind of friend they want will vary from person to person. With that in mind, how can your clothes communicate the kind of person you are? A flirty top says one thing, a paint-splattered T-shirt says another, and a business-causal getup says something entirely different. Of course, if sending subtle messages with your clothes simply isn’t your style, you could always opt for your go-to outfit and a basically clean appearance. It never hurts to stand out, but the expectations aren’t that high to begin with – nobody’s going to complain if you don’t look 100% put-together. 

Show off your interests with the right background. You should always avoid chatting from a place that’s overly messy or distracting, but if you really wanted to make a good impression, set your camera up so that the background tells people something about you. Do you love fly-fishing? Have some of your flies within view – you never know who will notice and take interest. Are you nuts about the Beatles? Maybe there’s a vintage poster or a record collection that you could include as you’re webcam chatting. 

Whatever you do, get the lighting right. You can have the most expressive outfit and the neatest background, but if the lighting is wrong, there’s no way it’s going to look good. If your lighting situation needs some improving, you probably need to either 1) get a light source that’s less harsh, or 2) find a different angle. Once you find something that works, you won’t have to change it, so it’s worth spending the time to figure it out. 

Develop the friendship online

People call it “social networking”, but you can only get so “social” if text chatting is your main form of communication. Because of this, it’s pretty rare to form lasting friendships with someone you met online. In fact, most people don’t get past the point of occasionally commenting on your photos, let alone actually talking to you one-on-one. 

With webcam chats, though, you don’t have to rely on text chats and hope for the best. As you get to know the other person, you’ll discover what their laugh sounds like, how they react when they stub their toe, and the way their face scrunches up when they sneeze.

Explore the possibilities

You don’t have to stick with just friendly conversations; you could plan epic pizza nights, discover each other’s all-time favorite films, and more – all via webcam chat. If you both get creative, there are all kinds of activities you could enjoy together. 

What about all the steps between those first few conversations, and deciding to get matching tattoos? Figure out some everyday activities that you both enjoy, and do them while webcam chatting. This could be cooking or eating together, playing a board game, or even cleaning out a closet. The more time you spend together, the better you’ll know each other. That’s the whole point of friendship, after all, and webcam chatting makes it easier than ever to do online.

How will you use webcam chats in social networking?

You could try out some of these suggestions, or come up with your own; as long as you’re using webcam chats to put yourself out there, you’re doing it right!