What happened to Zoom?

Remember back in March, maybe April, when we all learned how to Zoom? Remember when we had happy hours and dance parties and Zoom dates with long-lost friends? What happened to that? Most people I know regularly complain of being “zoomed out” and would rather talk on the phone or email or just put off getting together. Those of us fortunate enough to have jobs still slog through work meetings, but the thrill was most definitely gone a long time ago.

My Tribe

My Tribe on Zoom

There are a bunch of reasons for this. You’ve probably got your own, but here are a couple of interesting articles about what happens in our psyches and in our relationships. A BBC piece titled “Why Zoom Video Chats are So Exhausting” does a good job of describing the social stresses of putting a screen between us and the rest of our lives. A National Geographic piece on “Zoom fatigue” talks about what happens in our brains when we don’t get all the non-verbal queues we expect.

On top of all that, I find that although I’ve never been much of a hugger outside my immediate family, I’m not done with not being able to reach out and touch folks. That might be why the Portland protests call to me night after night. It’s important to keep showing up until Black lives matter, and there’s something about standing shoulder to shoulder in a crowd of masked, sanitized strangers that, ironically, feeds me more than a Zoom happy hour with my closest friends. One of these days, we’ll be able to have it all. Until then, hit me up for a phone call or a walk.