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Being Seen

This article about the perils of video conference calls was written in peaceful times a few years back. Today, those of us lucky to be able to work from home have very little choice. There is some pressure and expectation that you will turn the camera on during a call. This has to be your new normal. Put in perspective this is a reasonable ask - you should have much to be grateful for and there is no reason to complain. That said, most people I know find the non-stop being on camera tiresome. As the author points there are no benefits but there is overabundant stress that comes from being watched by a number of people like you were in solitary fish in a fish-bowl. Many would agree with the author when he says:

 I don't want to participate in your video call. I don't want you to look at me. I don’t want to look at you. It’s awkward and weird. Video calls add yet another layer of stress to the work day. I don't look nearly as put together as you do. I'm not dressed very well. Many times I'm working from home so I'm not much dressed at all and believe me no one wants to see that. 

 I have noticed women are much more reluctant to get on the video than men are. To be a team-player you need to do what most are doing irrespective of the level of discomfort. Some separation between your co-worker's personal and work life is usually beneficial. I am not sure if there is advantage to seeing people feeding their pets, managing their kids and trying to be in a call all at the same time. It is visually distracting, takes away from the professional persona of the individual but provides very little if any value. I am not sure why it has become the mantra of the hour to be on video all day long.

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