Zoom is ‘Impoverished’ Communication

A new study reveals a significant disparity in neural activity during face-to-face conversations compared to Zoom interactions. In short, there is a big, positive difference in how the human mind responds to in-person meetings instead of technology.

Researchers at Yale University noticed suppressed neural signals during online (Zoom) exchanges. Meanwhile, in-person discussions revealed heightened brain activity.

The conclusion: Online faces are not engaging our social neural circuits as effectively as traditional human interaction.

“Zoom appears to be an impoverished social communication system relative to in-person conditions,” the researchers say.

“Impoverished” is a strong word yet the scientists decided it was an accurate one. Zoom is convenient and at times, the only choice or a critical one maybe. A fair question however might be whether employers or employees should expect it to be a sufficient a means of communication.

David Ciccarelli

“Zoom, and frankly all video conferencing, has had its fifteen minutes of fame and was a necessary tool for a period of time,” says David Ciccarelli, co-founder and CEO at Lake.com, which connects owners of lakeside vacation rentals with people looking to create memories with their families at the lake.

“Unfortunately, too many business leaders continue to rely on the convenience of video calls even when someone is in their own city, let alone in their own office. Consequently, they forfeit an opportunity to build a true and genuine relationship with someone,” he says.

A phrase commonly used during Covid and maybe still, is Zoom fatigue. It was almost always made by those told to attend. It is important to determine if it just a complaint of annoyance or one deserving of greater attention, deeper understanding and possibly, meaningful adjustment.

A Stanford study published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior identified four consequences of prolonged video chats, reports Vignesh Ramachandran at Stanford News.

Jeremy Bailenson

Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact is highly intense, seeing yourself during video chats constantly in real-time is fatiguing, video chats dramatically reduce our usual mobility and the cognitive load is much higher in video chats, Professor Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab determined.

Researchers from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and Graz University of Technology had a study published in Scientific Reports.

“A major implication of our study is that videoconferencing should be considered as a possible complement to face-to-face interaction, but not as a substitute,” they wrote about their conclusion.

These findings are no small thing for those expected to be on video calls.

“Staring directly at screens for eight to 10 hours a day is inevitably going to create mental and physical exhaustion; add to the mix a lack of eye movement focusing on objects near and far, not to mention minimal physical activity during the day,” Ciccarelli says. “Even just walking between meeting rooms gets the blood flowing through the body and resets your thinking.”

Improvements can be proposed and implemented.

“Meetings should start on time and end early,” Ciccarelli says. “Starting on time means everyone is on the call when the meeting starts, not two minutes late because they were jumping frantically from a prior meeting that ended right on the hour. Ending a meeting five minutes early gives attendees a moment to get up, stretch, rehydrate or take a break before their next meeting.”

He also suggests additional interaction to keep minds stimulated.

“Something else that would improve video meetings is to keep people engaged by collaborating in a document, viewing a website live or walking through a handful of slides together,” Ciccarelli has learned.

The Yale study findings can be helpful to many employers, potentially affecting decision making when considering the impact on those who strongly prefer to work at home.

“It’s mentally healthier for people to come into the office and work face-to-face,” Ciccarelli contends. “It’s the responsibility now of employers, and particularly human resources departments, to communicate to their employees the adverse effects of endless video calls.

“Organizations care about their people,” he asserts, “which is one of the reasons why many of them require physical presence in the office so that they can interact with colleagues and minimize screen time.”