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Not everyone wants to be Zoom-Groomed
May. 18th, 2020 09:34 amOur cat has a kind of love-hate relationship with her Zoom-Groom brush. Sometimes she consents to be groomed with it, rolling about and purring and really getting into it - until it all becomes too much for her. Then she decides she wants none of it and actively knocks it out of my hand, bites the rubber "bristles", picks it up with her mouth and carries it to another corner of the house, treating it as either her prey or her kitten, I know not which. At other times, she's not in the mood for ANY grooming and pre-emptively knocks the brush off a table, picks it up with her mouth and spirits it away somewhere to be dealt with later.
I must say that I too have a similar reaction to the idea of being Zoom-groomed. So many meetings and other events have have struggled to survive by moving to Zoom. And I guess there's some value in maintaining contact with others that way for want of other alternatives - but frankly my gut reaction is to want absolutely no part of it!
Even people like freelance columnist Brigitte Pellerin, who writes upbeat columns for the Citizen about home-schooling her kids and building smart, healthy communities, had a very insightful column in Saturday's paper about why Zoom just doesn't do it for most kids, even though they're the most cyber-aware generation ever!
And if it doesn't appeal to screen-addicted kids, you can imagine the impact on dinosaurs like me, who grew up with in-person services and contacts.
Slate recently put up an article (see link below) about Zoom-fatigue, mentioning some of the ridiculous contortions conferencing software like Facetime will go to in order to create the (erroneous) impression that your fellow online attendees are looking you in the eye (which in some cultures is considered a good thing while in others it is regarded as challenging, disrespectful and generally rude). Eyes have been called the windows to the soul but I'm not sure I'm ready to plumb the depths of all those electronic souls out there!
https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/05/zoom-call-burnout-quarantine.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I'm not ready to foresake all technology - after all, I've embraced e-mail and blogging and online research. But I guess it all comes down to Who Decides? Technology is great if we're selecting it as the optimal or most practical means to a particular end. But it should never become an excuse for abdicating human thought, judgement and choosing, nor should it become the default mode of interaction.
I must say that I too have a similar reaction to the idea of being Zoom-groomed. So many meetings and other events have have struggled to survive by moving to Zoom. And I guess there's some value in maintaining contact with others that way for want of other alternatives - but frankly my gut reaction is to want absolutely no part of it!
Even people like freelance columnist Brigitte Pellerin, who writes upbeat columns for the Citizen about home-schooling her kids and building smart, healthy communities, had a very insightful column in Saturday's paper about why Zoom just doesn't do it for most kids, even though they're the most cyber-aware generation ever!
And if it doesn't appeal to screen-addicted kids, you can imagine the impact on dinosaurs like me, who grew up with in-person services and contacts.
Slate recently put up an article (see link below) about Zoom-fatigue, mentioning some of the ridiculous contortions conferencing software like Facetime will go to in order to create the (erroneous) impression that your fellow online attendees are looking you in the eye (which in some cultures is considered a good thing while in others it is regarded as challenging, disrespectful and generally rude). Eyes have been called the windows to the soul but I'm not sure I'm ready to plumb the depths of all those electronic souls out there!
https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/05/zoom-call-burnout-quarantine.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I'm not ready to foresake all technology - after all, I've embraced e-mail and blogging and online research. But I guess it all comes down to Who Decides? Technology is great if we're selecting it as the optimal or most practical means to a particular end. But it should never become an excuse for abdicating human thought, judgement and choosing, nor should it become the default mode of interaction.
