Like the title says, my friends live pretty far so we don't often meet up given work and family schedules. What are some ways you kept in touch with your friends?

Run a discord server. Hang out and chat, even if you’re playing different games or watching shows and movies. Sometimes knowing you’ll be heard even if no one is actively speaking is a good activity.

Play an RPG via your video conferencing platform of choice. You don't need to use a Virtual Table Top like Roll20, either. Use the built-in whiteboard function of your video conference platform or use a site like excalidraw.com.

Bigscreen Beta if you have a VR headset. Let's you e.g. sit in front of a fireplace with a friend and watch or listen to YouTube

https://en.boardgamearena.com/

kosmi.io is a great tool for this, you can watch movies together as well as playing games.

Among Us!

people can join on mobile devices as well!

Jackbox.tv games?

Coop portal2

opensimulator.org

Use https://MeetingGlass.com to get easy long video meetings through virtual frosted glass.

Me and my friends, each of us got that app launching at Windows startup. Every time we turn on our computers at the same time, we see each other frosted through the virtual glass. Then we talk or remain frosted in the background.