> It's also impossible to refuse a video call for fear of being seen as secretive or worse Really? I refuse video calls all the time (or answer with audio only

> It's also impossible to refuse a video call for fear of being seen as secretive or worse Really? I refuse video calls all the time (or answer with audio only), and people never make a problem of it. > I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people look at each other when talking, right? Look! Using this heap of high tech makes me a normal person!" That's a pretty horrible thing to say. > Meanwhile, I note that amongst actual normal people, interest in video calling is low because they see it for what it is: a poor substitute for the real thing. Just as no normal person is into cyber dildonics. Your personal experience is wildly different from mine. I know a ton of people who care deeply about video calling, and most of them are not technical at all. Parents and their adult children often use video calling to keep in touch (no as a replacement of real world visits, but as a supplement), and pretty much every expat or immigrant I've had extended contact with uses it to talk to their family back home. Just because you have a personal distaste for it, doesn't mean you have to be mean towards everyone who does care about it.