Coping with the new phenomenon that is the gloom of Zoom meetings
Like hand sanitiser and face masks, Zoom and other video conferencing applications have become the embodiment of the pandemic era interaction tools. A year into the pandemic, research is starting to confirm that video conferencing saps our mental resources — inducing undue duress.
It turns out that sustained, close-up eye-contact from participants on the same call, even if one is not the speaker, is not only uncomfortable to many but stressful. Looking at your face on video and seeing spots and wrinkles causes self-consciousness, body dissatisfaction, and pressure to change your appearance.
When you are a speaker on a group call — you feel additional pressure because everyone is looking at your face — something many people are uncomfortable with.
They sense the added pressure to perform while on video as all eyes are on you. For some, the mere participation in those virtual meetings chips at their self-esteem.
These problems are compounded because while on virtual meetings, especially when the cameras are off, we cannot pick all the non-verbal cues that we would typically observe during in-person meetings.
To process non-verbal cues like facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, and body language, we are forced to pay more attention, an action that unconsciously draws a lot of brain energy. If this becomes a daily routine with back-to-back virtual meetings, it can take a toll, even on the strongest among us.
Worse, when you pose a question to the group, and everyone goes silent for a period that feels like an eternity, it adds to stress. Silence creates a natural rhythm in a real-life conversation, but the speaker can become anxious and uneasy when it happens in a video call.
In some people, this can result in disordered eating, excessive exercise, or the desire to seek cosmetic procedures to correct one’s appearance in more severe cases. Its little wonder that last year, as virtual meetings became the norm, plastic surgeries shot up worldwide to “fix” facial features.
To reduce this mounting pressure, which would make some people shy away from on-camera meetings, we should tamp down on some expectations. Turning on the camera should be optional, and in general, there should be more understanding that cameras do not always have to be on throughout each meeting.
Also, if you have a series of video meetings, try to break their monotony by adding small buffers of breaks to stretch, hydrate or engage in a small physical exercise such as walking around or taking bouts of breaths.
If you’re prone to self-criticising when you see your face on Zoom, right-click your image and select “hide self-view”, or put a sticky note over your image on the screen so that you don’t have to see it.
You can also use an external webcam and keyboard to allow greater flexibility in your seating, such that you can move away from the computer. That way, your camera will not pick on your facial details that could be making you uncomfortable.
