Really? I refuse video calls all the time (or answer with audio only), and people never make a problem of it.
> I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people look at each other when talking, right? Look! Using this heap of high tech makes me a normal person!"
That's a pretty horrible thing to say.
> Meanwhile, I note that amongst actual normal people, interest in video calling is low because they see it for what it is: a poor substitute for the real thing. Just as no normal person is into cyber dildonics.
Your personal experience is wildly different from mine. I know a ton of people who care deeply about video calling, and most of them are not technical at all. Parents and their adult children often use video calling to keep in touch (no as a replacement of real world visits, but as a supplement), and pretty much every expat or immigrant I've had extended contact with uses it to talk to their family back home.
Just because you have a personal distaste for it, doesn't mean you have to be mean towards everyone who does care about it.
When I worked at Apple Retail, video calling (whether Skype or FaceTime or whatever) was mostly popular with the older generation - their relatives have moved away and when they call they still want to see their face.
I wouldn't say that my friends/family/colleagues first instinct is video call, but we certainly use it enough when the situation is appropriate. My cousin uses FaceTime to be with his gf when they are supposed to be doing homework, my family does FaceTime/Hangouts with one another to keep in touch (spread out across midwest), I've used FaceTime and Hangouts to provide technical support remotely when I wasn't able to get to a computer, we've used it to "stream" events that certain family members weren't able to attend (e.g., weddings, etc).
Video conferencing has a lot of normal everyday applications; it's also not uncommon for people to just join up on various webcam chats just to hang out with people online, or for people matched on dating sites to start with a video chat.
I don't know how you came to some of these conclusions, but I really don't think that this is representative of most users.
My camera never works. I've never had anyone lash back against this.
Nobody gives a crap if you decline a call, video or not.
Your premise is invalied
I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people look at each other when talking, right? Look! Using this heap of high tech makes me a normal person!"
Meanwhile, I note that amongst actual normal people, interest in video calling is low because they see it for what it is: a poor substitute for the real thing. Just as no normal person is into cyber dildonics.