People don’t communicate anymore: they Facebook, Twitter, Zoom, blog, text, Facetime, chat and email.
We have become addicted to iPhones, desktops, laptops and the soon-to-be ubiquitous Artificial Intelligence.
There are benefits to the boom in Zoom. When COVID hit, just about all local governments called off meetings necessary to transact the public’s business. Soon, it became clear that public life had to go on, so the Zoom technology was installed.
It is pretty simple to download the app on your device. Zoom is not too complicated or expensive for government to install. The Zoom app was downloaded 485 million times in 2021. There are 505,000 business customers. In 2021, 3.3 trillion minutes of Zoom time and 45 billion webinar minutes were consumed. It appears windbags are windbags whether on their devices or in town halls.
I have attended more than 100 Zoom meetings. Signing in to a Zoom call is easy – if your Internet is working properly. That is a big risk in Graham County. A recent Town of Lake Santeetlah Zoom meeting had to be called off, because the Internet went down multiple times.
The large number of citizens who do not have Internet raises concerns. Not all folks who want to speak are computer literate or wired. Without face-to-face meetings, these folks are kept out of the process.
Censorship is another concern. In a recent Town of Lake Santeetlah meeting, a Zoom participant called a new member of the Town Council a nasty name. The Zoom meeting controller shut down all listeners because it could not be determined who the brute was.
In a recent Boston University study, it was concluded that the same people who show up for Zoom meetings show up for face-to-face meetings. The time of the meeting may impact the level of attendance.
The subject matter also has an impact on attendance. Zoning meetings bring more participation than budget meetings.
The question is clear. Does Zoom improve the quality of debate or the ultimate policy determined? Not in my mind.
There is some humor in a Zoom-driven world. Dogs bark, babies cry, toilets flush and some people keep their PJ pants on and then stand up by accident. During a business Zoom meeting, a son famously “mooned” his father.
Not sure any of this would happen in a face-to-face meeting.
So, is Zoom the doom of the world as we know it? Probably not. It is a necessary evil during the time of COVID.
But the sooner we can return to courteous in-person public debate, the better.
Roger Carlton writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, rcarlton57@hotmail.com.