Colleagues, we need to talk about the damage that endless zooming can do. Every day I see new opportunities to join in this or that online discussion or conference, and each invitation is becoming a burden 1/... #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter

For many of us, online conferencing is the main form of contact we have with others. But it's a stripped down form of contact which demands a particular focus and concentration. Colleagues tell me every day that it's more intense, and thus tiring, than IRL interaction 2/...
Communication is attenuated because many of the usual social and symbolic cues that tell us where we are, what our role is, how to interact and respond, are missing. This is especially awful if our interlocutors have their cameras switched off and we're talking into a void 3/...
But we also lose the rest and reset time between events. Instead of those precious minutes on a train to read, or a brisk walk between venues, even just a chat around the coffee pot, we are increasingly leaving one meeting to log on to another 4/...
We do so with no other backdrop than our own four walls, in one chair, glued to a screen, unable to reach out. Our symbolic and social worlds have shrunk. @PostEurope told me it's a form of torture, but that's literally true: a stress position we maintain for days 5/...
Some of us thrive in this world; a very large number of us do not. For those with small children this is having devastating effects on mental health; same goes for those living alone with little direct human contact; plenty of others are struggling. 6/...
We're in this position because we have generally tried to automate "business as usual", instead of rethinking how best to engage in an online world. But also because of our manic competitive environment, where we fail if we are not constantly sharing, hosting, promoting... 7/...
So, I have some requests, questions to ask before we propose yet another zoom meeting, yet another webinar...
(1) Do people really WANT it, or is it just you and me who think it's a good idea? Who haven't I heard from?
(2) Can it wait? is it really that important? 8/...
(3) How can we make it ok for colleagues to say "No, I can't, this is too much"?
(4)can this be handled asynchronously? Maybe a wiki or forum will allow you to gather reactions at people's convenience rather than forcing them in front of the camera 9/...
...and if it really IS important, wanted, and works best synchronously:
(5) how can we allow time out, time away, time to think, time to go for a walk, time to make a coffee, time to play with the kids, time to be more fully human than a zoom meeting allows 10/...
and no, that doesn't mean a jumping jacks break every 10 minutes! That means NO MEETING. Schedule down time around events. Let people come and go.)
There must be experts on this out there: would be glad to learn. 11/END.

More from Science

What is going on at SWANSEA UNIVERSITY in Wales?
1.
https://t.co/d5NKtNlxxa
Sounds as if its connected to Bill Gates "LUCIFERASE" Vaccine?

2.
https://t.co/k0w1mjaPg0

"HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON SCHOOL OF LAW"
- AT SWANSEA UNIVERSITY!!!


3.
https://t.co/jifuWq6cGq
Remember all those FIRES, over the Summer!!!

4.
https://t.co/H3lstFyYx8
WUHAN PARTNERSHIP

"Links between Swansea & Wuhan date back to 1855 when Swansea missionary Griffith John founded the Wuhan Union Hospital.
This relationship was strengthened when representatives of the two cities signed an agreement".


5.
https://t.co/5b1JqiEQzi
Swansea University Strengthens Links with China
Read this thread from @lilithsaintcrow. I really mean it. Just read it. Because if what she is saying is true (and I happen to think it is) it explains *so much*

An example using the Flat Earthers: A thread of many parts:


I'm firmly convinced that the flat Earth thing was started by some adolescent trolls with nothing more productive to do. They didn't believe it, but they thought it was entertaining to keep pretending that they did.

You can't engage with them, because they *are playing a game*. They think it's fun to see if they can get anybody to engage with something completely stupid as though it's true.

If you challenge them, the rules of the game state that they have to argue as hard and a spuriously as they like, but *never* to admit that the Earth is not in fact flat. I suppose you have to make up your own entertainment on 4chan or whatever hole this was conceived in.

It's annoying as hell, but I suppose it doesn't do much harm.. except to folks like this:

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