Zoom is the Modern Day Rotary Phone - Make Way for the Next Generation

Most people I know had barely heard of Zoom before the pandemic. In fact, as a consultant in digital and online engagement, I used to have to cajole groups to give it a try. I used the term, “virtual cocktail parties,” and everyone would look at me as if I had two heads.

Not anymore. The entire planet has been on Zoom in one form or another for six months now, and the world will never be the same. Now the term, “Zoom fatigue” is a common phrase that is universally understood, and for good reason.

 It is tiring.

We are using it as a band aid without finesse or clarity on what it is that we are actually craving. Zoom was not designed to provide the sum total of all our communications overnight. No one imagined using a video conferencing platform for board meetings, birthday parties and education from kindergarten through graduate school.

The good news is, we are adapting. We are learning that we actually can function without offices and classrooms and happy hours and remain connected. We are innovating. Our human spirit and innate desire for authentic conversations and bonding is being tasked to make lemonade out of lemons, and we are.

I believe the next phase of innovation in online engagement is dawning. Zoom is like a rotary phone. It is clunky and can be frustrating with some of their limitations, yet it has served a vital role in keeping us connected.

New players are nipping at their heels with cool technology like OBS (Open Broadcast System) technology that makes the screen look more like TV. Others include online avatars, virtual meeting spaces or clever new ways to set up break out networking groups or trade-show event demos.

The key is infusing our humanness into the tech. We yearn to engage with each other like we would at a sports event, retreat, networking happy hour or regular co-worker chats. That is what we miss. And, we are clever enough to bend technology to our desires.

This Fall as the weather cools down we will be back on our screens preparing for the next wave of the pandemic, rather than resigning yourself to more Zoom, get curious. Try out other platforms and tools to connect with one another. Think of it as building a new toolkit of resources to use for all sorts of different purposes.

Here are a few of my favorites for both live and offline communications:

Airmeet- they are moving leaps and bounds beyond Zoom with a presenter mode that allows for different screen configurations for a more interesting watch, participants to pose chats and questions separately and an innovative separate networking space for participants to choose a table to click and engage in conversation. They are a company to watch.

In addition to setting up live zoom meetings all day long, I have found that using tools for asynchronous communication is a great way to work around Zoom fatigue. Experiment with using several tools in a more fluid way to reduce online chat time, email overwhelm and maintain a freshness to your communications both personally and professionally.

Here are a few of my favorite tools to use on your own time to connect with others:

WhatsApp is a great tool for small working groups, study groups or social groups. It is an easy way for international connection with options for video or audio calls, recorded audio messages, attachments and written text. I love it for working groups.

Loom is a great tool to insert a short video commentary into an email. I love this tool and use it often to increase my response time to a more complex email, and to give the receiver a break in email overwhelm. It also offers something special: the nuance of my reply. You see my body language, voice tone and I can flip to multiple screens online if needed to aid in my reply. It is efficient, highly effective and people love receiving it.

Marco Polo is a lesser-known video chat app that may at first blush be just a silly social tool to be tossed into the category of Snapchat or TikTok. It is simply a tool that opens your camera phone, allows you to record a message and send it to someone in your contact list or a group. The receiver gets a notification and has the option to immediately respond once the message has been played. Seems simple, yet the impact it can have when used judiciously is huge.

I use Marco Polo with close friends around the country to check in while I am walking the dog and have a moment for spaciousness. I use it with clients to deliver a longer dialogue so they have my full focus rather than a fast email. I have set up numerous groups in Marco Polo group chats for professional groups as well as personal growth groups. It has been unbelievable how intimate everyone becomes with something as simple as flipping the camera screen to share morning routines, reflecting on a particular question, or simply to lend each other support.

If you would like to learn more about these tools, click HERE to join me September 3rd at 11am EDT. I will demo all of the tools outlined here on Airmeet, and open up for discussion about how you are innovating online, including discussions and new ideas to foster digital intimacy in a global pandemic.

Let's make digital lemonade and rise through this time more connected than ever before.