Zoom or any other video calls you make have a different psychological impact than in-person social contact. If it just wasn't the same to talk to your friend on Skype or Zoom or Facetime you have proven this theory to be true. Classes, parties, dates, office meetings, and prayer meetings will not have the same flow. While it may be more convenient to only dress your top half and wear pajamas or sweats on the bottom, it doesn't truly connect us in the same way. This doesn't mean it is not a good way to conduct a meeting. Without any further adieu, let's dive into the pros and cons of Zoom.
The Negatives
This may be a pro and con, depending on your function, but it limits social activity. If you want a super-productive meeting and don't want the social activity to take over this works, but for your holiday party, this doesn't work. You have a set time to meet and (if you have the free version of Zoom) a set amount of time to meet. I, personally, know that my bible study group gets nothing done this way, aside from personal updates and one prayer. Forty minutes is not enough time to dive into Romans and fewer people show up. We aren't a large group to begin with, so this platform will not work for us.
If you have trouble reading people (for more reasons than just your bad internet connection) it is because you only have audio and visual cues to work with. People give off energy and vibes (for example, if they are in a bad mood one can usually tell), but with only your ears and eyes, you can't get a correct reading, and so, you can't truly get a good sense of everyone. On top of this fact, a bad internet connection can cut off your meeting entirely, cause tech. problems, or cause lag. If you have an internet issue you are sunk. Meet in person if your interest is not going to support video meetings.
Another possible con is that introverts and quiet people have trouble jumping into the meeting with their thoughts. Lag plus constant interruption equals type it out in the chat. No joke, it is much easier to chat out your thoughts because you can't see someone raising a hand or waiting to speak. Us introverts are polite people who wait and form thoughts carefully. Group meetings are bad enough without lag, bad video quality, and the inability to find a good time to jump in. You cannot see if someone is trying to get the floor for a suggestion. One-on-one communication doesn't have this problem, so that's different, but a group meeting usually means our thoughts don't reach the meeting despite our attempts to put them out there. The literal problem for everyone is that we don't know whose turn it is to speak. This concept is based on gaze-awareness (who is looking at whom).
We have a limit of environments. Our computers are usually sitting in the same place or the internet is only strong in certain places. Your home only has so much variety in it. Your office has even less variety. While you can go find a cafe or restaurant to sit in, most are sitting in their bedroom or living room. Everyone is forced to show only one version of themselves (when it is natural for us to adapt to different places by showing other versions of ourselves). Put simply, you no longer have a separation of home and work, or home and somewhere else. This messes with our brains.
I think we've all seen situations where parents have to divide attention between your Zoom or Skype meeting and their four-year-old. You are not in a meeting room that shuts out the outside world. It is not a physical boundary, but a psychological one. The outside world can invade your meeting or date. Unless you have a physical space that is free from others, you can easily be distracted. If you are not talking or presenting, you could be doing anything else off-screen. You only agreed to point your face at a screen for forty minutes, if you have nothing to say. If your meeting can be an email, just write the email. It's faster for everyone.
An odd thing about Zoom is that you stare at yourself, along with everyone else. You may catch yourself fixing your hair and adjusting the lights so you look better. It alters the behavior of the people in the room and gives you more to cognitively process. It adds stress, in short. You may be more exhausted by the meeting because of this. Going back to how we only have audio and visual cues, there will be misunderstandings. Because we can't just grab so-and-so to work it out after the meeting and talk about it over lunch, we may not address it at all. Cue the social drama. This is not clear communication. At the end of your meeting, you are also forcibly ejected with no transition. It is too abrupt and throws you back into the outside world with a jolt. All this cognitive processing stresses us out and exhausts us. The energy that comes from fellow human beings is necessary for connection. The vibes coming from your friends make it possible to read them, as said above, and all this together makes all of us extremely tired of Zoom in general.
Ask yourself one question when you consider Zoom, Skype, or Facetime; is this the right communication option for the conversation? Office meetings are one thing, but delivering the news of a death in the family requires a hug (if you are comfortable with that) or an in-person visit. While I enjoy prayer meetings on any medium, the energy in the room is greater when we are all in-person. Human connection is what we are built for. Think about this. Consider your topic.
The Positives
I'm going to be straight will all of you. I don't like Zoom. I have been forced to use it all Covid long and I am sick of it. All that aside, I still need to try to be objective here and look for some positives. There may not be many, but here are the ones I could find. Again, I will be blunt. I found more articles on how Zoom exhausts us than how it helps us. The only overly positive reviews are for business uses. I don't think it was ever intended for social gatherings.
Offices and businesses, the intended use of Zoom, can have meetings with people in other cities, countries, and buildings with convenience and ease (given the internet connection is not bad). This can also go for relatives that can't travel for holidays or birthdays. The connection online can still keep us in contact with one another, even with all the negatives above. If it is a large meeting this can support it.
If you need to stream your meet-up, Zoom can do it. You can put it on your social media. It is free. It works with google calendar. It can grow with your group. It is not hard to use (unless you are technologically challenged like some older generations tend to be). While there are some issues, it is generally workable for anyone.
Working remotely, a way to be home with family, is one thing some people have done during our pandemic. Some will continue to do so long after the pandemic is over. Video calling will allow this to a degree that was never reachable before. It will make it possible to work from home and care for children.
My conclusions
Zoom or video calling depends entirely on your intentions. My personal opinion is that it needs to go as far away from our holiday parties or social gatherings as possible, but remain for the use of missionaries, people who can't travel to see family, and businesses. I have had to use it for months. I don't like the sense of exhaustion and frustration it gives me. I have found so many articles about how it exhausts our society that I am convinced that I am not alone in this experience. The only positives that can be found are sometimes ads.
Please be careful out there, but please know that you need in-person contact more than you think you do. It is entirely up to you what you decide to do with your holiday parties. I leave it up to you. Do what is best for your families. Be safe and responsible.
Pictures:
Hindustan Times
Burlap and Blue
Pinterest
Bored Panda
Sources:
https://uxdesign.cc/the-psychological-impact-of-video-calls-dbed57aa792b
https://www.greengeeks.com/blog/pros-cons-using-zoom/
https://financesonline.com/pros-cons-of-zoom/
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