“I want to see my friends and family right now, but video-call fatigue is real.” Our columnist NicNguyen helps you cope with video-chat apps.
By Nicole Nguyen March 25, 2020 9:39 am ET On my fifth day of self-isolation, I joined a yoga class on Zoom. I’d heard about it through Instagram and paid for it on Venmo. All 100+ participants simultaneously hit play on a Spotify playlist distributed by the teacher. We flowed through sun salutations, over the internet, in real-time. Most people even turned their webcams on, although I dared not. The technology was working! It really was connecting us. My heart warmed.
While social distancing, we can’t walk up to a colleague’s desk, go out with friends, attend an exercise class, or take the kids to school. Instead, we log on to Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp or Hangouts—and turn in-person events into pixels on a screen. I love and want to see my friends and family right now—and video calling them fulfills that basic need. Loneliness is an actual health hazard. But video-call fatigue is real.
On top of that, because we’re working from home, we’re spending more time with our devices. Maybe we should be finding ways to avoid burning our eyeballs to a crisp. I’ve started breaking up long catch-ups into chunks, sending minute-long voice memos on iMessage, for instance. It maintains all the humanness of hearing from a loved one, without blocking off another hour on the calendar.
FaceTime is for Mac, iPhone and iPad users. It supports up to 32 participants, who appear as floating tiles on screen. When someone is speaking or you click a tile, that tile swells; when you’re in a large chat, you’re just watching constantly shrinking and ballooning heads. You can turn your head into a shark though! When on cellular, turn on Low Data Mode.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Meet the Founders of Invisible Hands, the Group Delivering Supplies—and Joy—During the Coronavirus OutbreakMeet the founders of Invisible Hands (InvisHandsHQ), a group of young people who decided to go shopping for those in need during the COVID-19 crisis and why 'loneliness is a potential secondary pandemic.'
Read more »
Bethany Joy Lenz and Brett Dalton Get Flirty in New Hallmark Movie.bethanyjoylenz and IMBrettDalton get their flirt on during the brand new trailer for JustMyType, premiering this weekend on Hallmarkchannel! 😍
Read more »
These Strippers Are Delivering Food To Stay Employed And Bring Joy During CoronavirusShon Boulden, owner of two Portland, Oregon, strip clubs, posed 'Boober Eats' as a joke. The enthusiastic response has been no laughing matter.
Read more »