I Guess We’re Flattered

On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced a “revolutionary” new enhancement to Teams that they claim will solve the problem of Zoom fatigue.

Zoom fatigue is real, but it’s not caused entirely by the grid or solved by a prettier background.

It comes from the loss of autonomy and being forced to submit to an online experience that doesn’t give participants the freedom to interact naturally; to sidebar, socialize, network, collaborate, and have ad hoc conversations with fellow attendees. Every time one has to suppress one’s desire to speak privately to a fellow attendee or one wonders why they only get to ask questions in text and can’t address the speaker themselves one gets a little more frustrated. Only Shindig addresses this by allowing all the freedom to meaningfully participate on their own terms.