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Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

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Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#101

Post by peristls »

flappyeagle wrote: post #100
decafninja wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because many meetings that involve many people are entirely pointless for the majority invited, period, regardless of format. Many of the people for whom the meeting is pointless are usually in no position to push back on it.

Just don’t go

You don't always have an option and when you do there are consequences. It cost me my grades in high school (during the lockdown, in an European country) because I was adamant on not wanting to show myself on camera. The same thing happened when looking for a job. I'd rather face the consequences rather than give in.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#102

Post by Obscurity4340 »

hotnfresh wrote: post #7

We got accustomed to it, but it never stopped feeling super weird, I think, somewhere deep in our heads. A wall of faces staring at your neck is not what any real in-person thing feels like. A wall of facings looking in your eyes isn’t, either, for that matter, but the constantly-averted-gazes do add even more to the weirdness. You don’t feel so constantly watched in person, unless you’re doing a presentation. I did…

> A wall of faces staring at your neck is not what any real in-person thing feels like. A wall of facings looking in your eyes isn’t, either, for that matter, but the constantly-averted-gazes do add even more to the weirdness. You don’t feel so constantly watched in person, unless you’re doing a presentation.

Maybe I just watch wayyy too much CNN, but this has never been weird to me and its fatigues me vastly less than bullshit commuting/travel

Edit: I like how any time normies start having access to rich people shit like Zooming for work, the rich do AnimalPlanet type documentary-style media campaigns about how the lower among us simply can't handle it and it needs to be gently but forecefully brought to a smooth transition until closure or the point at which they can massage through enough pointed legislation/social pressure

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#103

Post by closeparen »

agumonkey wrote: post #58
Gigachad wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely hate calls. WFH works well when you just need to grind out something solo, but it’s awful to communicate. Personally I go in the office 1-2 days a week. If you want to talk to me, do it in person those days. If you add me to some 10 person video call. I’m just going to zone out.

Strange how I felt zero difference. As long as sound is crisp clear it feels like we're in the same room.

No matter how clear it is, the audio is half-duplex, meaning the small overlaps that are part of normal conversation control-flow instead make it crash and burn. Calls work fine for one way presentation or very structured Q&A, not so much for interactive discussion.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#104

Post by flappyeagle »

thunky wrote: post #67
Gigachad wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because video off meetings are entirely pointless and just shouldn't be run. Not to say that turning video on magically makes the meetings have point, but if you are muted, video off, and doing the dishes, you just shouldn't be in that call. Requiring video on probably makes people push back against being invited to useless meetings rather than seeing it as an hour to clean the house.

> you just shouldn't be in that call Exactly. But most of the time you don't have a choice. So may as well do dishes.

Just don’t go. You have a choice. You are a sentient human being.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#105

Post by flappyeagle »

peristls wrote: post #101
flappyeagle wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don’t go

You don't always have an option and when you do there are consequences. It cost me my grades in high school (during the lockdown, in an European country) because I was adamant on not wanting to show myself on camera. The same thing happened when looking for a job. I'd rather face the consequences rather than give in.

You always have an option. Negotiate. Use your agency as a human being.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#106

Post by flappyeagle »

sesm wrote: post #17

What can a person do to make Zoom calls less exhausting for themselves? I would be happy to hear any tips.

Buy everyone on your team an excellent microphone and boom arm — should be required. Anyone on a shitty mic is not allowed to talk.

Turn your self video off.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#107

Post by flappyeagle »

deprecative wrote: post #98
nunez wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Take a long break during the day - Take short breaks throughout the day, like getting coffee/water, etc. - Turn off self view! - If you code, try to cluster your meetings together to reduce context switching. Block focus time on your calendar to avoid drive-by meetings that break up these clusters. - Invest in good headphones and a good mic. Others might have bad sound quality but you definitely won't. Also, it wil…

> - Take a long break during the day Your status goes yellow and you're fired. >- If you code, try to cluster your meetings together to reduce context switching. Block focus time on your calendar to avoid drive-by meetings that break up these clusters. If you code, you don't have enough authority to do this.

Turn off your status indicator. Block your calendar off with fake meetings and leave one cluster available.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#108

Post by thunky »

wkat4242 wrote: post #93
thunky wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the feeling of being together is so much stronger I hope there will be a way to convert voice into a realistic behaving VR avatar, no equipment needed other than a mic. For example if I say "ok John, I like that idea", my avatar automatically faces John and locks eyes. For most of the meeting I'm not speaking anyway so my avatar could just look at whoever is speaking and look interested.

Well if you are in VR you already will lock eyes with whomever you're looking at. Especially if your headset has eye tracking. You will not talk to someone behind you ("Soap opera talking") as it feels just as weird as in real life. Also your hands are mirrored in the virtual world and you can easily flip the bird, clap your hands and more friendly gestures too :) Or perhaps you mean the boring MS Teams avatars you c…

> Especially if your headset

What I'm suggesting is that I wouldn't be wearing a headset at all, but everyone else in the meeting wouldn't realize this. My VR self (I'm calling that my avatar) would be on auto-pilot, driven only by my voice and reacting to others voices and virtual positions.

Most of the time it would just need to face whoever is speaking and appear to be engaged, and throw in some random movements, so I don't have to physically do that myself.

I could continue to play guitar or take my dog outside while those with VR headsets on are stuck going through the expected motions.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#109

Post by thunky »

flappyeagle wrote: post #104
thunky wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you just shouldn't be in that call Exactly. But most of the time you don't have a choice. So may as well do dishes.

Just don’t go. You have a choice. You are a sentient human being.

Oh...why am I even doing anything at all at my job? I could just refuse to work and get paid anyway? With no consequences?

Wow all this time like a sucker I've been doing what my boss asked me to do.

Re: Zoom Fatigue Is Real, According to Brain Scans

#110

Post by eropple »

deprecative wrote: post #97
Calamitous wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My company issued everyone headsets, and the audio is night-and-day difference, but maaaaaaan I hate wearing a headset.

I wish. I take some amount of pride in having pretty solid video and audio for meetings. I get stuck with people using their awful macbook microphones and webcams, and most don't bother with headphones. Then they wonder why everyone hates meetings.

One of the nice upsides of a good microphone is that it can make headphones optional instead of required. I usually take meetings on speakers. But my desk mic is a sE Electronics Dynacaster with tremendous rejection and, coupled with a hardware mute switch and teleconferencing's now-pretty-excellent echo cancellation, nobody can tell.

But I also own IEMs that I use if I'm giving a presentation, so I can get the necessary direct monitoring to ensure I'm on-point with my audio.

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