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A theory of Zoom fatigue

theconvivialsociety.substack.com

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Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#181

Post by throwaway55554 »

djsumdog wrote: post #6

I don't know about those theories. I suspect something else. Do you remember landlines, and how responsive they were? You would say things back and fourth and the conversation just worked, even on three-way and conference calls? There was very little noticeable lag! Even in the early cellphone days, I'd often prefer using my landline. There was less lag. Cellphones felt like speakerphones where it tries to do that ca…

I've worked remote for a half dozen years now, and you're absolutely right, the lag is definitely the major factor. Minor factors are just the extra little effort expended in making sure your screen is showing, making sure everyone can hear you, the screen jumping focus as it follows the speaker. Just things like that add to it.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#182

Post by waylandsmithers »

sudosteph wrote: post #14

Any other Autism Spectrum or ADHD people who feel less fatigued by video meetings compared to IRL? The things I like: - having the range of activity during a meeting constrained to one area in front of me so I don't have to look around the room to make sure I'm not missing something / get overstimulated by too much stuff happening. - Boxes with borders lighting up when someone is making noise / talking so I know wher…

Yup, and turning the video or microphone off for a minute- or the rest of the meeting if I feel like it- is only a click away.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#183

Post by aurbano »

csa wrote: post #116
aurbano wrote: post #75

Just a little anecdote that’s relevant here. Around 10 years ago my girlfriend didn’t have wifi home yet (low tech family), so we spoke at night over landline, as those calls were free. And it definitely did feel like what some people here are saying: you could hear everything with no delay or cuts at all, the whole call just felt like she was there next to me. They eventually setup wifi in their home, so we switched…

I will go out on a limb and say that the issues you describe had more to do with your internet connection(s) than with VoiP. In the mid-2000s, I used Vonage (VoiP) from Japan to the US all the time. People were shocked because it sounded like I was right next to them. My grandmother actually thought I was bamboozling her by saying I was in Japan because she thought that there was no way it could be so clear. Granted,…

Could very well be, she had a very basic plan (around 10Mbps), while I had a fiber plan on 200Mbps so maybe that was the issue. I can't recall how it was with other people though.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#184

Post by ghostpepper »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #68
sudosteph wrote: post #14

Any other Autism Spectrum or ADHD people who feel less fatigued by video meetings compared to IRL? The things I like: - having the range of activity during a meeting constrained to one area in front of me so I don't have to look around the room to make sure I'm not missing something / get overstimulated by too much stuff happening. - Boxes with borders lighting up when someone is making noise / talking so I know wher…

My girlfriend has ADHD and possibly autism (she's getting assessed for it soonish), she's outright refused to switch her classes to be done over video - having to strain to hear / understand (it's a language class too), background noises, visual and auditory distractions. She explicitly went and paid extra for classroom sessions just to limit the distractions from online classes. Not saying you're wrong (of course yo…

That's great it was an option for her but a lot of the uptick in zoom usage lately is for people who don't have the option to see each other face to face anymore due to Covid.

The alternative would be audio-only calls or text-based chat, or simply not communicating (not feasible for businesses but maybe for families/friends).

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#185

Post by imiric »

lostdog wrote: post #18

Lots of normal things about human interaction are broken in Zoom meetings. * You can't have a normal conversation with that much delay. Every time you talk you're probably interrupting someone, and that starts to wear on you. * You can't have any side chats with your neighbors before and after the meeting, making everyone seem less like a person. * You can't tell who's looking at you, so you always feel like you have…

I wonder if VR meetings will take off because of this crisis. Most of the issues you mention would be solved by VR, except the audio latency, which is the biggest hurdle.

For mass adoption the headsets would have to become even more comfortable and lightweight, the displays faster and higher resolution, with lower price and easier setup.

I haven't followed the latest developments, so we might be a couple of generations away from this, assuming the industry can keep progressing during downtime.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#186

Post by asdff »

dylan604 wrote: post #40
lostdog wrote: post #18

Lots of normal things about human interaction are broken in Zoom meetings. * You can't have a normal conversation with that much delay. Every time you talk you're probably interrupting someone, and that starts to wear on you. * You can't have any side chats with your neighbors before and after the meeting, making everyone seem less like a person. * You can't tell who's looking at you, so you always feel like you have…

So why the fixation on a video call? I'm probably just an old curmudgeon, but to me the benefits do not out weigh the oddities being discussed. Everyone wearing their pieces of flair with their "personalized" backgrounds are tiresome. I can see the benefits of a screen share/presentation, but I really don't need to see the other people involved. I don't care about tone of voice. I get sarcasm. For the people that don…

At this point I'm one of the few people still putting up the video feed, and I'm feeling pretty depressed. There was at least some interaction with that dumb feed of peoples heads, now I feel alone and like I'm talking to a wall. You'd be surprised how much you rely on feedback and validation from body language alone when it's abruptly been eliminated from your life.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#187

Post by frosted-flakes »

karatestomp wrote: post #157
closeparen wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best communication system I've ever used was the Clear-Com party line intercom in my high school's auditorium. The thing was older than me by at least 10 years. Hand assembled circuit boards in steel chassis. But: - The headsets were comfortable and practical. I have not seen anything sold for office or even gaming use begin to approach the ergonomics. Plantronic, Logitech, none of it. - Every headset had foldbac…

> - The signal was so clear, and the mics were so good, that as long as you enunciated you could speak just a hair above a whisper and be reliably understood. I remember analog PSTN voice, and this was 10x better. Might have to do with less aggressive EQ. OTOH everyone on a Web video chat always sounds like they're YELLING. Even if the volume's turned down, the tone registers as yelling. Having those happening nearby…

It might have something to do with the lack of sidetone[1] (where you can hear your own voice through the earpiece), which had the effect of you naturally lowering your voice. Landlines alway had sidetone, but most cell phones don't.

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#188

Post by [deleted] »

ken wrote: post #29
djsumdog wrote: post #6

I don't know about those theories. I suspect something else. Do you remember landlines, and how responsive they were? You would say things back and fourth and the conversation just worked, even on three-way and conference calls? There was very little noticeable lag! Even in the early cellphone days, I'd often prefer using my landline. There was less lag. Cellphones felt like speakerphones where it tries to do that ca…

They also played back a part of your own voice into your own earpiece, which helps make it sound like you’re in the same place. Zoom does not (at least AFAIK), so I have no way to judge if I’m speaking at an appropriate volume.

[deleted]

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#189

Post by asdff »

slimed wrote: post #44
intopieces wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people miss seeing their colleagues' faces. I know I do.

You miss them. Not their faces.

My personal happiness plummeted, anecdotally, when my coworkers started dropping the video feed one by one. It was surprising, but noticeable and significant.

Re: A theory of Zoom fatigue

#190

Post by frosted-flakes »

closeparen wrote: post #101
ken wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also played back a part of your own voice into your own earpiece, which helps make it sound like you’re in the same place. Zoom does not (at least AFAIK), so I have no way to judge if I’m speaking at an appropriate volume.

The best communication system I've ever used was the Clear-Com party line intercom in my high school's auditorium. The thing was older than me by at least 10 years. Hand assembled circuit boards in steel chassis. But: - The headsets were comfortable and practical. I have not seen anything sold for office or even gaming use begin to approach the ergonomics. Plantronic, Logitech, none of it. - Every headset had foldbac…

> Every headset had foldback, so even the big sound-isolating cans felt natural to speak into. I've spent several hours messing with virtual sound cards trying to make this work with Zoom and never managed it.

I have an external USB microphone from Schure that has an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and mic volume dial. It mixes the sound of your own voice and the line-out from your computer, just like landline phones do. You might want to give it a try.

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