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Do people who feel anxious because of a zoom camera also feel anxious during in-person meetings? I can't quite see the difference to be honest. I do occasional

by dudul 5y ago

Do people who feel anxious because of a zoom camera also feel anxious during in-person meetings? I can't quite see the difference to be honest. I do occasionally keep my camera off when it would be obvious that I'm doing something else during a boring/useless meeting, but it has nothing to do with "anxiety".

JohnFen 5y ago
There's a pretty huge difference between being on camera and being face-to-face, and yes, for a lot of people (maybe most), being on camera is more stress-inducing.
endisneigh 5y ago
Do you normally have in-person meetings at your house? You don't see the difference between going into an office and revealing your living situation?
- dudul 5y ago
  Like the color of your couch? I mean, OK, it's a stretch but maybe some people get really stressed about that. Most video conference programs allow you to put a fake background though.
- maffydub 5y ago
  At least where I work, it's company policy that, if you have your camera on (this is optional), you either blur the background or replace it with a virtual background. Doesn't that address this concern?
dessant 5y ago
All your reactions, manners, and living conditions can be recorded and later judged by your collegue's mother-in-law during a Zoom call. It would be a bit more difficult for her to achieve that during an in-person meeting at the office.
- dudul 5y ago
  That's a good point about recording.
- e40 5y ago
  All your reactions, manners, and living conditions can be recorded and later judged by your collegue's mother in law during a Zoom call. First, you can tell if a zoom is being recorded, and I'm guessing most of the time they are not. 1 in 200 of meetings I've been in the last 2 years has been recorded. Second, that's quite a dramatic stance. Colleague's mother-in-law? Seriously? The benefit to seeing and being seen by your coworkers is very great.
  - dessant 5y ago
    > First, you can tell if a zoom is being recorded I'm pretty sure you can record a Zoom call in several ways without the app detecting it. > Colleague's mother-in-law? Seriously? It's a joke. Meaning, you must assume that you are constantly recorded during your work on Zoom, and that the recordings can wind up anywhere and used for any purpose.
    - kristjansson 5y ago
      Seems like you have to adapt that threat model for your actual coworkers though? If they weren’t jerks beforehand, the physical separation and privacy of remote work only makes them marginally more likely to behave like jerks now. If they were jerks beforehand … my sympathies, maybe the mother-in-law has some helpful design advice?
Griffinsauce 5y ago
For at least some: yes.
kleinsch 5y ago
I’ve seen plenty of research on this as part of my job. There are plenty of obvious stressors (people seeing your background, audio lag, connection hiccups) but there’s also VC fatigue. At least right now, people find all day VC meetings more exhausting than all day in person meetings. In a ten person meeting in person, is everyone in the room going to stare at you personally for the entire hour? If you’re in Zoom, that’s what you see. Huge difference in social stress not knowing if people are looking at you and seeing a video view that makes it look like everyone is.

by dudul 5y ago

JohnFen 5y ago

There's a pretty huge difference between being on camera and being face-to-face, and yes, for a lot of people (maybe most), being on camera is more stress-inducing.

endisneigh 5y ago

Do you normally have in-person meetings at your house? You don't see the difference between going into an office and revealing your living situation?

dudul 5y ago
Like the color of your couch? I mean, OK, it's a stretch but maybe some people get really stressed about that. Most video conference programs allow you to put a fake background though.
maffydub 5y ago
At least where I work, it's company policy that, if you have your camera on (this is optional), you either blur the background or replace it with a virtual background. Doesn't that address this concern?

dessant 5y ago

All your reactions, manners, and living conditions can be recorded and later judged by your collegue's mother-in-law during a Zoom call. It would be a bit more difficult for her to achieve that during an in-person meeting at the office.

dudul 5y ago
That's a good point about recording.
e40 5y ago
All your reactions, manners, and living conditions can be recorded and later judged by your collegue's mother in law during a Zoom call. First, you can tell if a zoom is being recorded, and I'm guessing most of the time they are not. 1 in 200 of meetings I've been in the last 2 years has been recorded. Second, that's quite a dramatic stance. Colleague's mother-in-law? Seriously? The benefit to seeing and being seen by your coworkers is very great.
- dessant 5y ago
  > First, you can tell if a zoom is being recorded I'm pretty sure you can record a Zoom call in several ways without the app detecting it. > Colleague's mother-in-law? Seriously? It's a joke. Meaning, you must assume that you are constantly recorded during your work on Zoom, and that the recordings can wind up anywhere and used for any purpose.
  - kristjansson 5y ago
    Seems like you have to adapt that threat model for your actual coworkers though? If they weren’t jerks beforehand, the physical separation and privacy of remote work only makes them marginally more likely to behave like jerks now. If they were jerks beforehand … my sympathies, maybe the mother-in-law has some helpful design advice?

Griffinsauce 5y ago

For at least some: yes.

kleinsch 5y ago

I’ve seen plenty of research on this as part of my job. There are plenty of obvious stressors (people seeing your background, audio lag, connection hiccups) but there’s also VC fatigue. At least right now, people find all day VC meetings more exhausting than all day in person meetings. In a ten person meeting in person, is everyone in the room going to stare at you personally for the entire hour? If you’re in Zoom, that’s what you see. Huge difference in social stress not knowing if people are looking at you and seeing a video view that makes it look like everyone is.