I _really_ liked the "hangout" idea of Google+. Where you could just start a video call and whoever among your friends wanted to join, could, without having to accept or reject an actual invitation to them specifically. I could work on a project out in the garage and people could hop in and make small talk while I was doing stuff. It was great.
It doesn't feel like there is a great modern alternative to this.
TikTok Live, I guess? You can limit it to followers or just friends.
Discord VC works like this