Absence of motion in fourth place.

Our new normal is seen from a one-point perspective. As we lead teams, collaborate, make decisions, and conduct business on our computer screens, we may only know some individuals in a digital context. This condensed, geometric space in comparison to how we see people in the context of our three-dimensional spatial environments, shifts our perception of people. We’re cropped in a box, rendering our shoulders, neck, and head against a static, curated background. Consider the uncontrollable aspects of the real world’s spatial context that are erased from our relationships and memories of time with those individuals with Zoom. Consider the contrast between these two scenarios:

Screen: A shirt signifies we are dressed for the occasion (likely not related to the sweat pants on the unseen half). Brush hair. Makeup optional (turn on beauty filter to smooth out the imperfections). Sit in a room selected for privacy, light, and/or comfort. Static backdrop. Click on a link. Look at my face. Do I like how I’m presented? I make adjustments, the screen, the light, my hair. I wait in silence for the meeting to start. Other boxes with heads gradually fill the screen. Listen (mostly), Engage (mostly not).

Everyplace else: Cross a threshold, absorb into the surrounding sounds. Take a seat, Consider the view, pursue comfort, examine proximity and location of the exit, other patrons, distance from the next table. The spatial feel can be described. Warm, busy, noisy, happy, rushed, empty, calm. Looking across the table, I don’t see my face, I only see others. In view, a colleague or friend. In the distance, a variety of other interactions, in constant motion.

The impact of our fourth place may not necessarily be in the curated conversation with the person in clear focus, but the absence of the lives of others in the same space and time. Those who aren’t there for me.