Things to Do With Online Friends When You Have Nothing to Talk About

You both want to hang out, but “What should we do?” has become the whole conversation. Pick one small activity with a clear ending. You do not need a group, a new game or an evening free: the options below work for two people, including text-only chats and different time zones.

“Async” means you can take turns at different times. “Live” means being there together. The activities use your existing messenger or call service, with no additional download; normal internet or call costs still apply. Time estimates are suggestions, not rules.

1. A tiny choice round

Five minutes · Live text · No setup or purchase. Useful when neither person has the energy to tell a long story.

1. Each choose one pair: a rainy café or sunny park; a surprise day out or a carefully planned one; cooking together or ordering in.
2. Take turns sending your pair. Both answer it, then add one sentence about why.
3. Ask one follow-up about a detail, such as “What would make the café worth going out in the rain?”
4. Stop after both pairs, or agree on one more round. You do not need to count matches.

Up for two quick choices? Mine is rainy café or sunny park. You pick the next one.

If you want more choices, use our this-or-that questions for friends. For this activity, choose two rather than trying to finish a whole list.

2. Send an ordinary-day photo postcard

Five minutes each · Async text and an optional photo · No purchase. Useful when your free hours never overlap.

1. Agree on one theme: something blue, a good snack, an interesting shadow or an object you use every day.
2. Each send one photo and two lines: what it is and why you picked it. A written description works too.
3. When convenient, reply to one detail in the other person’s postcard. Ask about the story, not their exact location.
4. End after that exchange. Choose another theme only if you both want to.

Want to swap one tiny detail from today? Something blue, whenever you have a moment. A description counts.

Avoid house numbers, workplace badges, other people’s faces and anything you would not want to share. There is no need to send your view out the window or prove where you are.

3. Make a six-message story

Five to ten minutes of writing · Live or async text · No setup or purchase. Useful when you want to be playful without answering personal questions.

1. Pick an ordinary setting and an odd problem: a library with a very opinionated vending machine.
2. Person one writes the opening in one or two sentences. Person two adds what happens next.
3. Alternate until you have sent six story messages in total. Message five introduces the final problem; message six supplies the ending.
4. Give the story a title together. Keep it in your chat rather than publishing someone else’s contribution without asking.

Six-message story? I’ll start: The library vending machine refused to sell me a snack until I recommended a book.

No points, winner or polished writing needed. If you are taking turns across time zones, send the next sentence when it suits you.

4. Describe it, then draw it

Ten minutes · Live voice or text · Paper and something to draw with. Useful when you want a small shared task instead of a conversation topic.

1. One person privately draws a simple imaginary object, such as a teapot with wheels. Do not use a photo you need to purchase or send.
2. Describe its shapes for two minutes without naming the object. The other person draws what they hear and can ask questions.
3. Show or describe both drawings. Compare the funniest difference without scoring drawing skill.
4. Swap roles once. Text works if one person sends a few short instructions instead of speaking.

Got paper? Let’s each describe a ridiculous object and see what the other draws. No art skills required.

If drawing is uncomfortable or inaccessible, build the imaginary object in words: one person describes it, the other explains what they think it does.

5. Run a one-item mini club

Twenty minutes · Live voice or async text · One short item you can both access. Useful when you want someone else to supply the subject.

1. Choose one short public article, photograph, recipe or video. Check that the other person can open the exact link without paying or creating an unwanted account.
2. Agree on a limit, such as a five-minute video or one page. Each view it independently; no screen sharing or synchronized playback is necessary.
3. Each bring one detail you liked, one question and one thing you would change or try.
4. Spend ten minutes comparing reactions, or send the three observations as one message each. End by letting the other person pick next time, if there is a next time.

Would you like a tiny film club? One short video, then one favorite detail each. I’ll check the link works for you first.

If the link is restricted in either country, pick another item. A full movie, streaming subscription or multiplayer game can be fun, but check access, cost and whether it supports exactly two people before making it the plan.

6. Keep each other company while doing your own thing

Twenty to thirty minutes · Live voice, camera optional · Your existing call service. Useful when you want company but have little to say.

1. Choose quiet tasks: sketching, folding laundry, sorting a drawer or reading. Agree that silence is welcome.
2. Start by saying what each of you plans to do. Set a twenty-minute timer.
3. Work independently. Keep cameras off if preferred and pause the call whenever privacy requires it.
4. At the end, each share one small result. Finish the call unless you both want longer.

I’m sorting a drawer for twenty minutes. Want some quiet company while you do your thing? No need to keep talking.

This is company, not supervision. You do not owe the other person a productivity report or access to your room.

7. Try one private daily comparison

A few minutes each · Async browser activity · Free, no account required. Useful when you both want to choose before seeing the other answer.

1. Open ValuePair’s daily question for two and choose your answer.
2. Create the private one-recipient link and send it directly to your friend, not a group.
3. They answer the same multiple-choice question. Both choices reveal after they respond.
4. Return to your usual chat and ask what led to the choice. The activity itself has no free-text chat.

Want to answer today’s question separately and compare? We can talk about our choices here afterward.

ValuePair publishes this guide. This is our own small activity, with one daily question rather than a selectable game library. Agreement is not a friendship score, and a difference can simply be something to talk about.

Send a plan they can easily answer

Name the activity, time and effort: “Ten-minute drawing game on voice Saturday at 6 p.m. New York time, or would text work better?” For different time zones, include the date and both local times once checked. For an async option, say there is no same-day deadline.

If neither of you wants an activity, ordinary conversation is enough. If choosing what to do keeps falling to one person, the bigger question is shared effort. Our guide to keeping an online friendship going covers contact rhythms and participation beyond today’s activity.