THE ZOOM EXPERIMENT
Did you know we are all participating in a mass social experiment at the moment?
Usually social experiments are hard to organise and monitor. However this one is occurring naturally in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic we mostly held meetings as live events, with everyone being present physically in the one space. Right now, throughout the world we are coming together virtually as families, communities and workplaces. And so the control group is our experiences before the pandemic and the experiment is what is happening now.
So what is the difference between pre-pandemic and now? I’m going to explore that in this article and some further articles on Medium. Also I need your help with something which I will explain later.
My first experience with online events was on a recent Zoom call with my family. My sisters and their families live in Hobart and Canberra and I live in Sydney. Usually we all get together for Christmas with occasional catch-ups in between. Suddenly we found ourselves sitting in our own lounge rooms staring into a screen at each other. I have known these people for much of my life and it feels strangely intimate and comforting to be together. On the other hand it feels unreal and slightly uncomfortable. We haven’t learnt to relate in this way before.
We are all laid out in boxes on a screen. We are all on the same level, including in-laws, children, grandparents and dogs - it’s very egalitarian really. Everyone contributes, even if it is just through their visual presence. At some point in the call, everyone is expected to participate, so we can hear from people who don’t usually talk.
We all participate in a shared conversation, which is also something that doesn’t always happen. Everyone hears the thread of the conversation and how it weaves together. There is room for it to diverge from the usual patterns and unexpected things can lead to new conversations.
What is the impact of this on my family culture? Does catching up more often and with more of us participating make a difference? Is my family building more shared meaning through Zoom? From my point of view the answer is yes. In community work terms this is called social capital. It’s about building trust, connection and reciprocity. I have definitely seen my family building its social capital.
What about you? What have been your experiences with virtual family events? Have they helped to build up more connections or been annoying and messy and made no difference at all?
My work life has also been significantly impacted by using Zoom and a similar app, Teams. I am working from home in my kitchen. It’s a bit messy, especially as I have the computer next to the toaster. Every morning at 10am I attend a meeting with up to 40 people all squashed onto my computer. It’s a little bit uncomfortable because we don’t normally get together (especially with my toaster).
We used to have quarterly in-person meetings but not everyone attended and they often felt chaotic and disjointed.This new format is quicker, cleaner and simpler. We see each other and we talk about concrete things that need to be discussed, and then we go back to our work. There is less office politics and personality complications.
Through these meetings, I have even discovered a whole lot of new people, who I didn’t know worked in the organisation. We are a reasonably big organisation with everyone siloed off into separate areas. With the covid crisis we are coming up with creative ways to work more closely together.
So what can we say about this Zoom social experiment? It’s new and there are no commonly agreed customs and rituals around it. Normally we have a set of unconscious assumptions and expectations for how we relate. All of these have been disrupted. We have not yet built up a familiar structure, but are very self conscious about the medium. Do I just talk naturally or do I wait my turn? Is it Ok to make grunts and yeps in response to people? Do I say the first thing that comes to mind or do I wait and listen? Does the normal hierarchy of roles and relationships still apply or can I just butt in? Do I fill in pauses and silence or do I allow them to occur? Do I have my camera on or off? What do I put in the background? Do I have my audio on, or do I turn it off and just listen to the speaker without interrupting?
With time we will develop protocols for all these situations, but in the meantime I am feeling a bit lost.
But possibly this is a good thing. Maybe it is a chance to rethink how we get together and what are good ways to design online and in person events.
I have been talking to lots of people over the last few weeks who have also been experimenting with Zoom and other online platforms. So what are some of the things they have told me?
Virtual meetings can open up more communication and connection when we can’t get together in physical space. Getting together online for shorter times but more frequently can be a good thing, even if it is virtual. In some cases virtual meetings may even be less stressful and more focused than in person/offline meetings.
Virtual meetings can make mixing of people who don’t usually come to the same table more likely. It can provide an opportunity to hear different stories and connect in new ways.
However others have told me they are frustrated with virtual events. They say it is hard to really connect, be spontaneous and collaborative. The virtual event often creates a barrier to communication, through a sense of detachment or separation, whereas the in person experience combines all the senses — touch, smell, visual and auditory and creates a more complex, multi dimensional and nuanced experience.
So what will be the effect of us not getting together in groups for two months or longer in physical space but instead communicating primarily through virtual space? Will we lose a sense of deep connection or discover new connections? Will we become starved of touch and personal validation or will we be relieved that everything is a bit more remote and uncomplicated? Will we lose essential interpersonal skills or discover new skills and practices? Will social capital decline or could it increase in unexpected ways?
There is a lot more to discover from this social experiment and I would love to get your input. I’m a strong believer in the place of social research to help better understand our world and improve our practice.
Social research is about examining people’s lived experiences and detecting patterns and themes. I’m currently doing research on online events and I’m looking for people who have used it in the last month to do a short online survey. If you could help that would be great — just email me on thor@leapfish.com.au with the phrase “ok if I must “ or go directly to the survey here.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks Thor
Thor Blomfield BSW is a community worker, social researcher and writer on Medium. He helps community workers, facilitators and event organisers build healthy and happy communities. In his spare time, he teaches at Sydney University and performs community magic.
