Parties are in short supply these days – as they should be, given how quickly they can cause the spread of coronavirus. But as our in-person interactions have been scaled back (if not eliminated completely), people aren’t giving up on getting together.
A new study by QS Supplies shows that six in 10 people have hosted or attended a virtual party during quarantine. The on-screen festivities have ranged from happy hours to birthday parties to game nights to concerts. No matter what kind of party, guests are still having a blast; around one-third report getting drunk, 15.3 percent have gotten high, and 9.2 percent have enjoyed some nudity (their own or someone else’s) during said parties.
But are virtual parties really better than the face-to-face kind? In this Mandatory Party Battle, we’re breaking down the aspects of what makes a good party to determine which kind of get-together truly rules.
Cover Photo: Flashpop (Getty Images)
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We hate to say it, but in this day and age, virtual parties take the cake. They’re simply the most cost-effective, safest, and easiest way to get your social fix without putting yourself or others at risk for contracting coronavirus. While there’s no substitute for face-to-face interaction, virtual parties will likely continue to gain popularity during quarantine. Someday, we’ll revert to the bonfire and kegger fetes of the past, but for now, a virtual party is still better than no party.
Overall Winner: Virtual Party
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Virtual vs In Person Parties
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Preparation
The toughest part about virtual parties is coordinating the Zoom details. After that, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the party. An in-person party requires a multi-step preparation process, from cleaning and stocking a cooler to creating a playlist and serving appetizers. If you prefer low-maintenance when it comes to parties, you’d be better off in the virtual space.
Winner: Virtual Party
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Price
If a tight budget is what’s kept you from hosting an in-person party, virtual parties are a cheapskate’s dream. All you have to pay for are decorations and your own food and drinks, while hosting an in-person party can easily break the bank once you factor in feeding and quenching the thirst of dozens of your closest friends. Then again, if guests aren’t showing up at your place, you can’t exactly ask them to chip on food or beverage costs.
Winner: Virtual Party
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Attendance
It’s pretty hard to back out of an in-person party once you’ve committed to going. Your absence will be noticed and the host will probably ride you pretty hard if you don’t show. Virtual parties are just too easy to “forget” about or claim technological difficulties prevented you from going. They’re also less appealing because nothing truly wild ever happened in a virtual party (and certainly nobody ever got laid during one). If you want to pack the room and invite the unexpected to happen, there’s only one way to do it: in person.
Winner: In-Person Party
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Safety
Coronavirus has truly ruined every good thing, parties included. While you could attempt to have a socially distanced party, it’ll probably be tough to enforce the 6-feet of separation mandate or expect all your guests to keep their masks on long enough not to spit on each other (unintentionally, of course). Virtual parties present zero risk in our current pandemic state.
Winner: Virtual Party
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Vibe
There’s no substitute for face-to-face contact. As close as you may be to your friends, interacting with them on a screen in no way compares to being in the same room together. While you’ll still be able to bullshit, joke, flirt, and small talk with people during a virtual party, you can’t really experience people’s vibes that way or create a collective mood in the room.
Winner: In-Person Party
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Awkwardness
There’s no way around it: parties are awkward by nature. But when you’re at an in-person party, you have distractions and diversions to ease those cringe-worthy moments. You can nibble your way through the buffet. You can refill your drink. You can hide in the bathroom. At a virtual party, it’s just you and all the other faces staring you down. There’s nowhere to hide and nothing to point and exclaim at (like that drunk dude about to fall off the balcony) just to divert attention away from yourself.
Winner: In-Person Party
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Unexpected Guests
If your party is any good, someone will try to crash it. At an in-person party, this could be a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe you’ll meet someone new – and totally cool – because they happened to walk by your apartment door mid-soiree. In a virtual party, however, there’s only one kind of crasher, and it’s the perverted kind.
Winner: In-Person Party
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Mishaps
In-person parties should come with a warning: something will probably get smashed, someone might get hit, something might get stolen, and someone might go home with the one you had your eye on. There are a lot more uncontrollable elements in face-to-face interactions. While most of them are unpleasant, they do keep things interesting. Virtual parties are less prone to devolve into chaos, which, we suppose, is a good thing given the current uncertain state of the world.
Winner: Virtual Party
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Overstaying Welcome
The end of an in-person party is never clear. Is it when the playlist starts replaying itself? The liquor runs out? Everyone leaves except you and that nerdy coworker from IT? Sometimes, people think the party’s still going 18 hours later, as you discover when you wake up to a roomful of sleeping people who you now have to feed breakfast. With a virtual party, there’s no threat of people overstaying their welcome. Everyone will probably log off around the same time and you’ll go to bed at a reasonable hour – alone.
Winner: Virtual Party
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Clean Up
The biggest bummer about an in-person party is waking up the morning after, hungover, and having to clean up all the abandoned bottles, food plates, and vomit left by your guests the night before. The better the party, the bigger the mess. Virtual parties are downright immaculate by comparison; the only thing you have to clean up are your own dishes and bodily fluids.
Winner: Virtual Party
