Our staff works primarily from home. On the RARE instances that we Zoom, there is no requirement that folk turn on their cameras. So a new employee could be hired, work for some time, and leave, and I would never meet or see them.
There is one new employee whom I work with somewhat regularly. Today I was exchanging a series of emails with her, and I realized - not for the first time - I had no idea what she looked like. I really don’t CARE what she looks like, but it just struck me as minimally curious - and quite a change from the first 30+ years of my career.
I reiterate - this employee seems quite competent - which is ALL I desire in a cow-orker. But something in my mind has me wondering what someone I interact with looks like. Almost as tho my perception of someone has the capacity for numerous inputs - one of which is just visual identification. And if that visual input slot is not filled, I just have a minimally nagging sense of that gap.
I imagine many folk - such as in call centers, are used to working with people entirely virtually. And folk interact entirely virtually socially. And, apparently some folk are curious about their virtual acquaintances’ appearance as evidenced by photo threads on these boards.
If you work - or even interact regularly - with someone entirely virtually, do you find yourself just wondering what they look like? Or are you perfectly content to just conceive of them without any visual attributes?
Oh yeah, my best friend at work! I’ve never laid eyes on him, but we joke around every day. He’s a kid in his twenties; I’m probably older than his mama.
WHY do posters here use that annoying stupid “cow-orker ” bit?
I had collaborated on line with someone I had not met for an article. Never had a visual in my head. Get reports from various specialists, no particular weirdness in not knowing what they look like. Don’t know what most posters here look like, or for some their gender. Don’t wonder much.
I was going to make that same comment. Even the avatars here that are pix of some person are generally not pix of the actual Doper.
When I first joined the Dope I sort of enjoyed not knowing the gender / sex of many of the posters. As I’ve gotten to know nearly everyone who’s still here, that ambiguity has almost entirely faded.
But I recall how novel and refreshing it was that a) I did not know whether someone was male or female, and b) it didn’t matter. Which led me to some uncomfortable introspection about how much my interpretation of words and ideas was colored by the sex of whoever was saying whatever.
Yes, I am curious what most of us look like. But as we’re all aging that’s somehow less interesting than it once was. Despite me being as “lookist” as ever. I suspect that 1000 ~40-yos have a lot larger spread of appearances than do the same 1000 folks as ~60yos.
So is mine, from 40 years ago maybe, I now need a stronger horse.
I have had many coworkers in Japan, the UK, Germany, Australia, and such that I have never meet or even seen pictures. Hasn’t been a big deal.
Same with people here on the board, it just doesn’t matter much to me since I know I will never meet most people in person. I’m more interested in how people carry and present themselves.
I did go to a dope feast once and met a few people, wasn’t overly surprised. We just look like normal people and not beauty contestants.
I was going to say, I’ve done a lot of remote work, but have used video often enough that I’ve seen the faces of most everyone i work with regularly. But i do sometimes wonder about the folks here.
Back in the pre-Internet days, I worked for 3M in Wales. My job involved scheduling and monitoring adhesive mixes, some of which needed dry ice to keep them cool.
Dry ice had a short shelf life, so I had to telephone the supplier frequently to order it. The lady I usually spoke to had a very pleasant voice. I imagined her to be in her early twenties, like me, and I looked forward to meeting her.
In the event, I was dispatched to investigate some discrepancy and was disappointed to discover that she was old enough to be my mother and a long way from the person I had imagined.
The difference today is that you sometimes do get to see the people you are dealing with. When video conferencing was expensive I was on weekly audio conferences with someone who I never saw until she showed up at our location for a visit. My wife has done six or seven books for an editor she has never seen, and I don’t think even ever talked to on the phone.
My writing group meets almost exclusively on Zoom, though almost everyone turns on their cameras. When we have lunches some people say they are surprised that someone they just met in person is tall or short.
For whatever reason, I find it mildly amusing. And it somehow relates to the general opinion I have of most of the folk I work with. Sorry you find it annoying. I trust you will be able to overcome your annoyance.
While we’re at it, why do people suggest we go down to the quarry and throw stuff in? Or say “Hi Opal” on any list of 3 items? I assume those annoy you as well?
No - not really. But I think I consider our “relationship” considerably different/more superficial than an ongoing, goal directed professional work relationship.
I don’t even really wonder about the race/gender/etc of posters - nearly all of whom are using fake names. I’ve periodically been surprised to find someone I assumed one gender was a different one - but then I forget what I learned pretty quickly. TL - I THINK I originally thought you were male, but then saw you were female. But I wouldn’t bet on any aspect of that.
Not quite the same as the snip above, but I have noticed something about myself & those “slots” you mention.
If someone is explaining a story about a few other people, and describes the people by role or whatever but doesn’t give me at least a first name, I have a very hard time keeping the cast of characters straight. Without a name, all the rest of their role in the story doesn’t have a hook to hang it on and quickly fades from my memory. Or gets jumbled with other aspects of other characters.
But if I can hook that story to “John” or “Jane” it sticks. And the next time they mention John or Jane I can instantly recover their backstory to hook whatever new hunk of info into the existing skeletal webbing of my understanding of them.
Case in point. A couple months ago I started with a new GF. We’re having a great time. And along the way in this relationship I get to learn about her gaggle of lady friends, her parents and sibs, her adult kids, their spouses, her ex-husband and a couple ex-BFs, some pets, etc., etc. Quite a haul of people and history and connections.
I’m interesting in learning about this whole crew and want to remember and keep it (mostly) straight. But until she tells me her e.g. daughter’s name, which took awhile, I had a darn hard time keeping e.g. daughter’s growing biography in my head. Now armed with her name, it all sticks nicely.
Brains be weird. Or mine is. Your Mindage May Vary.
I don’t have virtual co-workers, but I do teach all-day classes where every attendee keeps their camera off the entire day. My camera, of course, is always on except for class breaks. It is quite challenging to “sit and deliver” material for a total of 8 hours just staring at a dozen blank boxes on the screen. (And I used to do radio DJ for a short period in college, so I kind of know what it’s like to talk into nothingness.)
And it’s a huge relief when someone finally perks up and asks a question.
The quarry was one poster intent on making it a catchphrase. Never caught on. They kept trying. I certainly was not the only one who skipped over nearly anything that poster wrote as a result. Hi Opal goes back a long long way, had a reason, is long past, and was stupid long before people gave it up. Now if someone uses it it is an attempt to demonstrate their OGness.
Why yes I do find most of them annoying most of the time. There are rare occasions a catchphrase joke is funny rather than plain lame. Emphasis on rare.
The why? People desperately want to somehow signal they are of some in group to a joke for most of them. “Cow-orker” though? Maybe the very first time done as an insult to the people you work with? But it doesn’t even serve the in group joke function.
You do you. I’m not trying to police it. Not annoyed enough to create a Pit thread.
As to the op, again, not typically. Not for radio voices either. I’m guessing most of your collaborators are located in Jersey?
My company had a strong push to get people to put photos in their online message profiles. I found it helpful to have a picture. When all of our interactions are just through a text box, it helps make the person feel more like a real person. I also found it helpful to know what the person looked like since there were times when we’d actually get together in conferences and in-person meetings. If it was someone without a picture, they felt more like a stranger since they didn’t match the assumptions I had made in my head.
