Hang out on Google

Hook up with your friends for face-to-face online chats.

Google’s product portfolio is packed full of services to help you communicate with others – be it via email through Google’s Gmail service, via videos uploaded to your YouTube channel or via text messages through Chat. Also accessible through Google is the Hangouts service. This allows you to instantly hook up with people from your social circles using your computer’s webcam and chat in real-time, which is the next best thing to meeting up in person.

Hangouts is an ever-present feature of Google and can be accessed by clicking on the Hangouts icon in the top-right corner of the interface. Here you can choose to create a new Hangout, hook up with people you have hung out with previously by selecting them from the list, or you can make yourself available to meet up should any of your friends be online.

In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of starting your own Hangout. The more you use the service, the more natural a means of communication it will become, and before too long you’ll be hosting your own online parties and pinging off quick-fire messages.