A few weeks after the COVID-19 shutdowns began, people began to articulate a new emotional concept: Zoom fatigue. At first, those who were new to working from home marveled at how much they could get done through the Zoom video teleconferencing software, or through its equivalents, such as Skype or Microsoft Teams. They began to use Zoom for everything, for talking with friends, holding virtual parties, and taking classes by Zoom, just for the fun of seeing what a 100% online social life could be.
Within a few weeks, these same people were turning down requests to participate in virtual gatherings, and appeared at mandatory Zoom meetings with a grumble, rather than a giggle. They were experiencing Zoom fatigue, the emotion that comes after the realization that video conferencing doesn’t offer anything close to the quality of face-to-face human interactions.
We feel hollowed out when all that we get for human interaction, day after day, is video of faces on a screen. Video conferencing offers only purposeful interactions, scheduled and scripted, without the chance for incidental happenings in the hallway or during lunch.
Yet, many employers are now talking about making remote work a permanent change, even when the COVID-19 pandemic finally fades. It’s more efficient and cost effective. That’s the hard truth that fuels Zoom fatigue: We’re living in a world where the people in power regard human interaction as a wasteful luxury that simply can’t be maintained.
