I used to complain about Zoom. I felt it was a poor substitute for face-to-face interactions with others. Since the pandemic, I’ve especially missed the in-person hugs from the people I feel closest to.
No more. My attitude has changed as I have gotten used it. Here are just a few of its features that I have grown to love:
- I can have a conversation with any reasonable number of people anywhere in the world. At no cost. My world has shrunk in a good way.
- I can see the expressions on people’s faces as I communicate with them.
- I can turn off my video and still participate in a call if I do not want others to see that I’m eating or doing something else.
- When I do research over Zoom, I can record a call, with permission, and transcribe it using other software.
Zoom is not the only way I communicate with other people in addition to in-person meetings. I use the mail (US Postal Service), email, phone, and social media. Each has its own advantages and limitations.
As each communication method has become available, it did not replace the older technologies but instead added to them, just as television didn’t replace radio. For each of them, I learned how to use them and also the etiquette involved.
I am not an early adaptor of technologies. I often fight with a new technology and feel frustrated until I’m able to master it. My original complaints about Zoom had more to do with having to learn a new technology and less to do with its limitations.
Now I am “cool” with Zoom and have learned to love it. It would be difficult to live without it.
What is your relationship with Zoom?