A lot of people from all across the world are delighted by what video calling apps can do, and for good reasons. Software such as Microsoft Teams, Webex, Zoom, Google Meet, Discord, WhatsApp, and many others are frequently used for business and educational purposes, not to mention entertainment initiatives. If you work from home, it’s pretty much impossible not to have such an app installed and running on your PC.
While video calling apps are capable of powerful and wonderful features and functionalities, such as video conferences, file sharing, screen sharing, audio calls, and many more, they still cannot fully mimic the real deal of physical encounters. In fact, we could say that, to some degree, video calling apps make us more prone to hide some aspects of ourselves that we don’t like others to see. In some way, it’s the same when we’re speaking about dating apps: users often hide their true identity and flaws behind an online profile that looks too good to be true.
We are social beings by nature
We are all social beings by nature, which means that we need true human interaction. And no, some pixels on a screen showing your loved one to you can’t fully mimic the real deal. True human interactions imply physical touch, scent, and a transfer of energy as you connect to another person. Video calling apps obviously can’t qualify.
The block function
Nowadays, it’s extremely easy to upset someone to the point that they wish to block you when you guys are talking on a certain platform. That’s because too many people are exaggeratedly comfortable these days, and they have the nerve to dislike anyone who has a different opinion than them. As a result, these people won’t hesitate to block you on Microsoft Teams, Facebook, Zoom, or any other platform you too may be using to communicate, or they can just stop the discussion anytime they need.
On the other hand, when it comes to the real world, we have to bring you the terrible news that you cannot carry the block button with you. You can’t simply decide to completely ignore a person the moment they start having a different opinion than yourself. You might feel very intimidated to try to ignore a person in real life, which is fine as long as that person exposes their opinions in a respectful and civilized way. And guess what? In the land of the grown-ups, a diversity of opinions is absolutely crucial in order to maintain a healthy and productive society. That’s how we can evolve as individuals: by getting others to tell us what we do wrong, not by validating any stupidity we do. And yes, we all make mistakes, regardless of how much some people want to believe otherwise.
Therefore, video-calling apps often rob us of true and productive debates simply because too many people don’t stand hearing something they don’t like. Physical encounters still involve real debates in which people don’t “get offended” at hearing the first idea that is contradictory to what they know.
While the supposed major goal of technology in general and of video calling apps, in particular, is to bring us closer together, it seems that they’re somehow doing the exact opposite, at least in some cases. It’s all up to us, the members of society, to make the right change, at least for the future of our children and grandchildren.