Ask HN: Video On or Off?
For remote work team meetings.
47 comments
I’m honestly shocked by the amount of “off” responses here. I moved fully remote around the start of the pandemic. Without video I’d have no clue who people were when I first visited the office. Having a face associated with a voice builds such a stronger relationship for me with those people, and them being visually present doesn’t feel as lonely.
Almost all of my calls these days are with video. When I call with just audio it feels like I’m blind. Even for personal calls, I’ll always video chat. If I’m talking to my parents I want to be able to see how they’re doing, or what they’re currently working on.
I’ll make a ping shot prediction as well that we’ll look back at this article in 10 or 20 years shocked that people would only do audio. I highly suspect that avatars or 3D video will overtake plain webcams for a true feeling of presence that’s similar to the real world.
Almost all of my calls these days are with video. When I call with just audio it feels like I’m blind. Even for personal calls, I’ll always video chat. If I’m talking to my parents I want to be able to see how they’re doing, or what they’re currently working on.
I’ll make a ping shot prediction as well that we’ll look back at this article in 10 or 20 years shocked that people would only do audio. I highly suspect that avatars or 3D video will overtake plain webcams for a true feeling of presence that’s similar to the real world.
> we’ll look back at this article in 10 or 20 years shocked that people would only do audio. I highly suspect that avatars or 3D video will overtake plain webcams for a true feeling of presence that’s similar to the real world.
I suspect there will be two classes of people in 10-20 years. Those shocked that people used to have audio only calls and those envious that people used to have audio only calls. And they will be the same people who currently make video calls and those who currently leave the video off today.
I don't like having my camera on (I do it for other people when needed, but prefer having it off) and I cannot imagine what anyone gets out of it. I do recognize that there are many people who do get something out of it, so clearly here is some answer. I don't get the "feeling blind" or "less lonely".
I suspect there will be two classes of people in 10-20 years. Those shocked that people used to have audio only calls and those envious that people used to have audio only calls. And they will be the same people who currently make video calls and those who currently leave the video off today.
I don't like having my camera on (I do it for other people when needed, but prefer having it off) and I cannot imagine what anyone gets out of it. I do recognize that there are many people who do get something out of it, so clearly here is some answer. I don't get the "feeling blind" or "less lonely".
On. I might turn it off for some calls with 50+ people where all the images don't even fit on the screen and I'm barely paying attention. But for any smaller meaningful meetings it's on. Most other people I work with do the same. If everyone has decided to be off, that's totally fine but I would feel weird to be the only person with their camera off, especially in a small group or one-to-one.
I've noticed a difference between the US and UK - in the UK it seems much more normal to have your camera on but every time I talk to someone in the US they see it as a weird thing that I've joined the call with my camera turned on. I might be overgeneralising based on a small sample though.
I've noticed a difference between the US and UK - in the UK it seems much more normal to have your camera on but every time I talk to someone in the US they see it as a weird thing that I've joined the call with my camera turned on. I might be overgeneralising based on a small sample though.
Off.
Eye contact and body language over video are a false proxy; you can't actually read expressions as well, and I find it better not to have the signal than to be misled/mislead by it.
Additionally, when teaching online, it's useful to have a way to change the tone; going on camera is really useful for that, and you lose the ability if you start with your camera on.
Most importantly though, being on camera and constantly having to model attention is exhausting; we don't require that people seem so ostentatiously alert in real life, and I think that everyone who ever complains of "Zoom fatigue" is actually suffering from "constantly bright-eyed and enthusiastic on camera fatigure".
Off-camera, you can pay the exact same amount of attention, but also keep moving, engage in other relevant tasks, read something carefully without appearing rude and so on.
Off-camera by default is easier, more pleasant, and more efficient.
Eye contact and body language over video are a false proxy; you can't actually read expressions as well, and I find it better not to have the signal than to be misled/mislead by it.
Additionally, when teaching online, it's useful to have a way to change the tone; going on camera is really useful for that, and you lose the ability if you start with your camera on.
Most importantly though, being on camera and constantly having to model attention is exhausting; we don't require that people seem so ostentatiously alert in real life, and I think that everyone who ever complains of "Zoom fatigue" is actually suffering from "constantly bright-eyed and enthusiastic on camera fatigure".
Off-camera, you can pay the exact same amount of attention, but also keep moving, engage in other relevant tasks, read something carefully without appearing rude and so on.
Off-camera by default is easier, more pleasant, and more efficient.
I leave it on if the group is under 10 or so, and I expect there to be some useful conversations.
For larger meetings with dozens of people, I often don't want to even be there, so I leave it off.
For larger meetings with dozens of people, I often don't want to even be there, so I leave it off.
Off. Even my one-on-one with my manager, we both leave it off.
I join all meetings with video off. If it's only one other person and I don't really know them and they have theirs on, I'll turn my video on. If it's a group of people and some have it on and some have it off, I leave mine off. This is true for our stand-ups: we have a mix of off-and-on, and I leave mine off.
I work in an enterprise financial org, and this seems to work well with my cohorts.
I join all meetings with video off. If it's only one other person and I don't really know them and they have theirs on, I'll turn my video on. If it's a group of people and some have it on and some have it off, I leave mine off. This is true for our stand-ups: we have a mix of off-and-on, and I leave mine off.
I work in an enterprise financial org, and this seems to work well with my cohorts.
For smaller groups, where everyone is engaged in the conversation, on. Then we can see head nods and such things. For larger groups, off. For any calls with senior leadership, off - they just recite powerpoint presentations at us anyway.
I keep mine off unless it's a smaller group and I expect to be participating a lot. Or if it's a one-on-one. I'm often listening while I'm doing something else if I'm not that invested in the conversation currently at hand, so why show everyone that I'm not paying close attention. Especially if it's a larger group. If I need to comment on something, I'll turn it on while I am participating, then I'll turn it back off.
A mixture of both. I'll typically join with video to wave hi. If there are more than ~5 attendees I'll typically mute audio and video to use chat and hand raise queueing.
If it's a quick question I'll use voice only. For longer discussions I'll turn on video. Sometimes I'll unmute video when I raise my hand. Other times difficult questions are proxied via text to be read anonymously by a co-worker.
It all depends on the size and the vibe of the meeting.
If it's a quick question I'll use voice only. For longer discussions I'll turn on video. Sometimes I'll unmute video when I raise my hand. Other times difficult questions are proxied via text to be read anonymously by a co-worker.
It all depends on the size and the vibe of the meeting.
On when introducing yourself or when requested. Off otherwise unless you wanna show off your new shirt or beard or something. It really depends on the person as well, some people rely on gestures and facial expressions a lot due to their upbringing and personality. I think most of us in tech circles are used to talking over chat rooms and forums like this anyways. I probaly talked to more people in a chat room than in person in my whole life.
It’s a personal preference thing. I never fault anyone for keeping video off and I never ask why.
But video on is definitely better for building and maintaining relationships.
But video on is definitely better for building and maintaining relationships.
I legitimately believe voice-only calls are better. Video messes up eye contact and never feels natural.
But, the problem is that people treat voice calls as an invitation to go walk the dog or do the dishes. There may well be plenty of meetings where that's totally okay and a great use of time—but oftentimes you actually, y'know, need to have everyone paying attention.
I don't know if there's a way to resolve this.
But, the problem is that people treat voice calls as an invitation to go walk the dog or do the dishes. There may well be plenty of meetings where that's totally okay and a great use of time—but oftentimes you actually, y'know, need to have everyone paying attention.
I don't know if there's a way to resolve this.
Between cats putting their buttholes in front the screen to my wife showering and walking around naked in the background to Spectrum throttling my network bandwidth every now and again, off unless it's a one-on-one call.
Also someone is almost always screen-sharing, which means having the thumbnails is just taking away screen real estate from seeing what they're sharing.
Also someone is almost always screen-sharing, which means having the thumbnails is just taking away screen real estate from seeing what they're sharing.
For one-on-ones, it should certainly be on. For team meetings, it's a personal choice. I have a feeling that having your camera on is better for your career growth though, since your colleagues would be more supportive of a human getting promoted versus your initials.
They should really add a "pause" that freezes the pic so people can feel less trapped.
It all depends on if I am having a bad hair day or not.
Other factor is if others have their video on or not.
For my larger team meetings where some of the team is overseas, I tend to leave it off as not everyone has a great internet connection.
Other factor is if others have their video on or not.
For my larger team meetings where some of the team is overseas, I tend to leave it off as not everyone has a great internet connection.
Our team is all default ON, but nobody is shy about turning it off if they need to do something that might be distracting or just don't want to be on video for any reason. It's a lot easier to visually signal agreement / disagreement in conversations that way without having to use your voice.
I'm always default ON when meeting with people outside our company as well. if anything because I'm used to using body language in conversations and it seems to move things along more naturally than it would with a phone-style meeting.
I'm always default ON when meeting with people outside our company as well. if anything because I'm used to using body language in conversations and it seems to move things along more naturally than it would with a phone-style meeting.
Slack has reactions - thumbs up/down etc, and other emojis for specifically this purpose.
Slack is specifically non-video, heck, the Slack sales and product people I've video conferenced with were over Zoom (which they chose). I don't think this is relevant until they integrate that functionality.
Slack does have video chat support - but fair enough.
Got a link/proof? They integrate with video chat tools and huddles supports voice.. Not video.
We don’t use Slack for video chat.
I don't have a hard rule for this, if it's a short call, or if it's a call where I am going to be one of the main speaker then I have my camera on.
If it's a general meeting or a long meeting where I won't be speaking much I turned it off and I also mute myself of course. This allows me to do something else. Usually I will use this 30-50 minutes meeting to cook something healthy.
I almost treat the meeting an audiobook and I jump in when I need to react.
If it's a general meeting or a long meeting where I won't be speaking much I turned it off and I also mute myself of course. This allows me to do something else. Usually I will use this 30-50 minutes meeting to cook something healthy.
I almost treat the meeting an audiobook and I jump in when I need to react.
< 10 (or a friend group) and I leave it on. If I ever had to join a large zoom meeting then I might leave it off but I prefer to have it on. I turn my camera on always in the hopes it will encourage other to as well so that I have facial expressions/body language to go off.
Off. I find videos on during meetings to be incredibly distracting in a way that IRL meeting are not.
Off, unless the people Im on the call with generally use theirs. I don't want to pressure people (by turning on my camera) to turn on thier camera if they don't want to.
It is signalling. Use of signalling without explicit communication is abuse.
It is signalling. Use of signalling without explicit communication is abuse.
On. I'm a Director-level at my company, and there are engineers that work for me, and I have no idea what they look like. All I've ever seen are their initials on the Zoom call. This drives me nuts.
I've noticed that leadership tend to have cameras on and non-leadership tends to have cameras off. I don't know what the mindset different is there, but it kinda sucks for someone like me.
I often assume that people with the camera off aren't paying attention, and that's probably not something that you want others to think of you.
I do think that visually seeing people can create a stronger sense of connection than with just voice.
Also, as a hearing-impaired person, reading lips really helps, and if I can't see your lips, my understanding of what you're saying is impaired. So, I guess... consider turning your camera on.
I've noticed that leadership tend to have cameras on and non-leadership tends to have cameras off. I don't know what the mindset different is there, but it kinda sucks for someone like me.
I often assume that people with the camera off aren't paying attention, and that's probably not something that you want others to think of you.
I do think that visually seeing people can create a stronger sense of connection than with just voice.
Also, as a hearing-impaired person, reading lips really helps, and if I can't see your lips, my understanding of what you're saying is impaired. So, I guess... consider turning your camera on.
I clean while you talk. I will join with my phone, put my phone in my pocket, and start vacuuming while listening to you.
Sorry, but the face on my SO when they come to the room to realize I've cleaned and me doing it while being on a meeting (which makes the meeting much more pleasant) is way more important than you being able to associate my face to my initials.
Look up my photo in the company systems if you're so inclined.
Sorry, but the face on my SO when they come to the room to realize I've cleaned and me doing it while being on a meeting (which makes the meeting much more pleasant) is way more important than you being able to associate my face to my initials.
Look up my photo in the company systems if you're so inclined.
Hey now, you know it's not kind to trigger their managerial class anxiety like that. You know one of their biggest fears is that people might not be hanging on every individually-revealed line of their carefully crafted presentations. It's especially cruel to rub it in with something so banal as vacuuming. I hope you're proud of what you've done as we all have to suffer through another round of articles about the undefinable importance of returning to the office.
I'm usually not even at my desk with these calls. I'll be doing stuff around the house, with my mic on mute.
Low-level manager here and also hearing-impaired, my reasons definitely echo yours.
Off. My firm was mostly remote pre pandemic and everything was done by conference call most of the time. I actually like it a lot more because it places more focus on content.
Always off, unless there is a reason to turn it on.
Off. Too much unnecessary cognitive load video on.
Off.
Unless -
* A new person is joining the call * We are meeting another team * I'm presenting * It's one of those meetings where we just casually hangout
Unless -
* A new person is joining the call * We are meeting another team * I'm presenting * It's one of those meetings where we just casually hangout
Always ON.
Off only for large meetings where I'm only listening.
I too am disappointed at the amount of "off" responses.
I too am disappointed at the amount of "off" responses.
Off of course, this shouldn't even be a question. Your coworkers do not want to look at you.
I keep it on but don't begrudge anyone who turns it off.
Off 99% of the time. It's almost never needed.
Teams
Video: OFF, Audio: ON
Video: OFF, Audio: ON
If users > 15 Off.
Always on.
Off
off