Whether you like it or not, Zoom (and its cousins) will be the gateway to appearances for a while. Very few bookstores, libraries, and other public venues will venture to host public events for quite some time. Some have grown accustomed to Zoom, and prefer the mode of communication.

My question to you is this. . . are you tired of Zoom?

I belong to a local book club, and they refuse to use it, preferring social distancing, masks, and face-to-face. I cannot decide if I want to attend with everyone sitting so far apart, mouth covered, such that they cannot hear each other, or prefer to be on my computer seeing them as they normally are.

Per Psychiatric Times, “There is robust evidence on how eye contact improves connection—faster responses, more memorization of faces, and increased likeability and attractiveness. These tools that make interactions organically rewarding are compromised over video.”

Per Wired.com, “Other things that might help to fight off Zoom fatigue are to block off times before and after meetings to catch your breath, and limit nonurgent calls to one or two per week. For short or informal conversations, you can even make a suggestion to switch up video chats with old-school communication like a phone call.”

Per Psychology Today, “Zoom is exhausting and lonely because you have to be so much more attentive and so much more aware of what’s going on than you do on phone calls. If you haven’t turned off your own camera, you are also watching yourself speak, which can be arousing and disconcerting. The blips, delays and cut off sentences also create confusion.”

I haven’t held Zoom meetings because I was concerned that folks were tired of them. Instead, I do batches of Two Minutes of Hope on Facebook. They feel less stressful. However, if you are interested in me holding a Zoom meeting here and there, please. . . let me know. Maybe it can be arranged. I promise. . . we won’t go on and on ad nauseam. . . I promise.