Let’s be honest: the internet should be fun, but it often feels like it’s not. In fact, often, it feels like we’re just slaves to the same websites over and over again. That’s not exactly by accident; social media websites have been specifically engineered to keep us there, so even once we stop having ‘fun’ on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, we stick around.
And that can make the internet feel like a chore. But the good news is there’s much more to the web than those social media sites! It’s still a wonderful digital playground of awesomeness; you just need to know where to look. In this post, we’ll explore excellent ways to pass an hour or more online.
Explore the World Using Google Maps
Sure, it’d be nice to have fun by traveling the world. But that’s not a realistic option for most of us, or at least, it’s not something we can always do. If the travel bug strikes and you can’t get away, take a look at exploring the world using Google Maps. With the street view, you can walk through many corners of the globe. It won’t be exactly the same as if you were actually there, but it’s the next best thing, especially if you play music from the place you’re exploring.
Play a Game
The internet has made gaming more accessible than ever before. There are games for your smartphones and browser games, or you can download Steam and buy a full game that you can play directly on your laptop. The great thing about gaming these days is that there’s a game for everyone. Even if you haven’t played games historically, you’ll surely enjoy playing a quick online pool game or a retro arcade game such as Pong or Pac-Man.
Work Your Brain
Looking for something a bit more challenging? Then perhaps an activity that’ll have you both having fun and working your brain is the way to go. Hundreds of fun games will have you thinking hard — and once you’ve completed the game, you’ll get all the satisfaction of a job well done. If you like wordy puzzles, then take a look at playing a crossword game. If you’re more into tactical battles, then you can play chess online. If you’re a math kind of person, then a challenging game of sudoku will get you all fired up. What’s better than having a good time while also knowing that you’re helping to sharpen your mind?!
Find New Music
The internet doesn’t always have the best reputation, but there are some areas of life where it’s had an arguably positive impact. One such example is with music. In the old days, you’d have to settle for whatever was on the radio or television. These days, you can have direct access to music from all over the world, both past and present. Spotify is the obvious place to look for new music, but there’s also Bandcamp and SoundCloud. Simply search for a genre that you’re interested in and see what comes up — your new favorite artists might be just a few clicks away.
Stream Videos
You probably don’t need us to tell you that watching videos is a fun thing to do — after all, some 80% of all internet traffic is down to streaming, so it’s safe to assume that you’re already pretty clued up on the internet’s ability to serve up videos. However, what we recommend is branching away from the videos you’ll find on social media and YouTube and steering towards websites that have videos with content that’s higher quality. Vimeo, for example, is the leading video website for creative content. If you are interested in short films, documentaries, or animated videos, then you’ll love what you find on Vimeo.
Explore New Sites
One of the leading complaints people have about the internet is that, while they know that there are plenty of websites out there, actually finding them is a challenge. After all, you have to know where to look before you can enjoy all the good stuff! Happily, there are websites that can do the digging for you. Two of the best examples of that are StumbleUpon and Digg. Digg provides some of the best content that you may have missed, while StumbleUpon sends you to websites based on your interests.
Make Some Art
Do you have an artist just sitting deep inside of you? Not everyone gets the chance to put their creativity to good use when they’re younger, but if you have the internet — as everyone does — then you’ll have a terrific chance to see what your artistic credentials really are. There are plenty of ways to nurture your creativity online. Some sites will allow you to create art digitally, while others allow you to play with colors. If you’re really new to the game, then consider taking a drawing course; in as little as thirty days, you may find that you can draw what you see before you, and there’s no greater buzz than that.
Dive Into Webcomics
Do you prefer to let other people create art? That’s fair! With the internet, you can see the work of some of the world’s most talented and creative artists. An easy way to get into this side of the web is to look at the hottest web comics, which will take you on a ride that’s as exciting as when you read comics when you were a child.
Comedy Podcasts
Feeling a little down? Then, all you need is a good comedy podcast to bring your spirits back up. Take a look at this list of the best comedy podcasts if you don’t know where to start, but honestly, you can’t really go wrong by going into the podcast app on your phone and seeing whatever’s doing well at the moment.
Watch a Live Animal Stream
Need a little break from the world of humans but don’t have time to take a trip into the great outdoors to engage with wildlife directly? Then perhaps a live animal stream is just what you’re looking for. There are animal sanctuaries worldwide that have a 24/7 live stream, allowing you to spend as many hours as you like observing animals getting up to all kinds of mischief. Watching new parents look after their newborns can be particularly cute, but you’ll want to have a few tissues handy; they’re so sweet that only robots would fail to tear up.
Get Lost on Reddit
You could reasonably argue that Reddit is one of the best websites on the internet. Why? Because it has pretty much everything — for whatever topic you’re interested in, you’ll almost certainly find a subreddit dedicated to it, and there you’ll find a host of like-minded individuals with whom you can discuss, well, whatever you want. And if your interest doesn’t yet have its own dedicated page, then you can simply create one.
Not that you need to have an interest in mind when you use Reddit. You can simply get lost in all the fascinating subreddits. It’s one of those sites where you can discover an interest that you didn’t know you had.
Wiki-Clicking
You have to admire Wikipedia. It has no ads and contains basically all of human knowledge — and it’s free. If you’re in a position to donate, then do so; it’s a treasure of the internet that is all too rare these days. Anyway, back to fun. If you’re looking to kill some time and learn something new, then go to the Wikipedia home page and click ‘random article’. You’ll be taken to a page within Wikipedia, and once you start clicking around, you’ll invariably find something interesting. Alternatively, just take a deep dive into the backgrounds of your celebrities, but fair warning, you’ll either find that they’re heroes or villains, so you have to accept that it might change your opinion of them!
Conclusion
And there we have it. As we said, the internet isn’t always the best, but that’s really more to do with our experience of it rather than anything else. If you’ve been spending way too much time looking at the same old websites, then it’s time to try something new — and as we’ve seen above, there are plenty of options available to you. So, the next time you’re looking to have some digital fun, try the tips above.
