People have been Skyping for years, but, I wasn’t too keen on it. Then, my children guilted me into thinking I really ought to connect with my faraway grandchildren. Still, I shied away from the idea, citing my lack of tech savvy. But when my daughter sent me a webcam, I knew the jig was up. I had no excuse to avoid my Skype anxiety. Seeing myself on webcam for the first time was a shock. My dark distorted image resembled a horror movie monster. Someone said it was all about the lighting. That helped a bit. But I still found it awkward making conversation in such an unnatural setting. The covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem, because we couldn’t have a family get together. That’s when , I found myself anxiously zooming into cyberspace.
If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the difference between Skype and Zoom. But, just in case, I’ll explain the difference. With Skype, you’re just connecting with one place. There may be more people in the room, but basically, it’s a one-on-one situation. With Zoom, You’re in a video conference with 3 or 4 people, all in different places. On Christmas day I found Zoom to be a pleasanter experience. With more than one person participating, there’s less performance anxiety. It felt as though my three kids and I were sitting around in a living room, just like in the old days. Conversation felt natural, and unstrained.
Not surprisingly, many younger people have Zoom anxiety, especially when it comes to meetings associated with their work. It freaks them out to see all those people looking at them. Worse yet, is the unflattering sight of their own panicked face. They find themselves feeling sweaty and tongue tied. The problem is so prevalent that Psychology Today has offered 3 tips on how to deal with it.
If you’re interested in zooming, all you’ll need is : A phone or computer; a webcam; speakers, a microphone, and of course, an internet connection. If You don’t need to have a Zoom account., most adults in the workforce already have one.
In my case, my daughter e mailed me an invitation to join her meeting. I clicked on the link, downloaded Zoom, used the passcode provided, and voila! I had zoomed into cyberspace. Not too bad for an octogenarian!