Video chat has become a ubiquitous and important part of our lives. It has probably enabled us to form more relationships in the last ten years than in the previous twenty. But video chat is new, and like all new things, it has both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of video chat is clear: best omegle alternatives it is an easy way to stay in touch with people. And the advantages of that are obvious: we are more connected than we were before. But some of the disadvantages of video chat are not as clear.
Most of the disadvantages of video chat come from the way we use it. We hate it when others try to keep up with us, and so we talk faster and faster. We interrupt each other, and interrupt ourselves. We stare at the screen, and stare at the screen, and stare at the screen, and stare at the screen. We rush through what we’re saying, and rush through what we’re hearing. We talk not to our viewers but to each other, and while that may sometimes be fine, it does not always work.
Some disadvantages of video chat come from the way we’re taught to use it. The most basic lesson in video chat is “talk louder.” But louder is not necessarily better. It’s worse.
The advantage of talking louder is that it makes it easier for the people watching to hear you. The disadvantage is that it makes it easier for the people watching to tune you out. If you talk louder, people will tend to talk louder too; if you talk slower, people will tend to talk slower.
So don’t talk louder. Talk slower. Talk slower, and talk more.
Slow down.