Peek-a-boo, I see you: One-way Skype video chatting

I call a friend for a Skype chat. He doesn’t have a camera on his home computer. He can see me. I can’t see him. Does it matter?

Yup. Turns out it does.

“You feel vulnerable,” my friend says. “There’s an imbalance of power.”

Power? Hmmm… Okay, that’s part of it. I feel uncomfortable, exposed, vulnerable.

Then, I turn off my side of the video. Now it’s okay. Audio-to-Audio. Forget the visual. That’s fine by me.

When I want to concentrate on a conversation, I lie on the floor with my feet up, and stare at the ceiling. With my line of sight thus cleared, my thoughts become clearer and my exchanges are softer. It’s like pillow talk.

Now we are equal and ready to take in and respond to whatever our conversation may bring.