> We need to be able to see each other in the eye.

No, we don't, why would you think that?

We never have camera on and work is going smoothly. Nobody ever suggested using it. I don't even know how the new hires look like, but it doesn't matter, because I can treat them like humans without attaching a mental representation of their physical form. I got this skill from an experience called 'phone call'.

I wonder if it is a culture difference. I'm from eastern Europe and no one I have asked uses camera, outside those forced due to working directly with the US. People who can't stand not being able to judge their coworkers faces, where are you from?

Anyway, put your camera on if you want to, I can get used to ignoring it. Please don't force your preferences on others.

> We need to be able to see each other in the eye.

This isn't what happens during webcam meetings. If you're looking at the camera (to try and provide eye contact), you're not able to see anyone looking back at you.

> Managers, especially, should set the right example and turn their on cameras - and ask their team to do so too.

Definitely not, and I wouldn't work for a manager that cared if my camera was on or not.

>If you're looking at the camera (to try and provide eye contact), you're not able to see anyone looking back at you.

Bodelin Webcam Teleprompter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn4LUoIpf1M

What a ridiculous thing that is. Thats so clunky and unappealing. Somebody should just write some software to simulate direct gaze into the camera or something more elegant than attaching a periscope to the top of your poor laptop.

> Managers, especially, should set the right example and turn their on cameras - and ask their team to do so too.

As both a manager, and as somebody who reports to a manager, no, absolutely not.

I agree with you, and I think the majority does as well, despite the misanthropic replies you're getting.

In any workplace I've been in, teamwork is important, even for technical ICs. It really doesn't send a signal that you want to work with other people or participate in a discussion if you're just sitting there with the camera off. It would be the same as sitting facing the wall in an in-person meeting. You could still hear but you're basically signaling you don't respect the discussion. If that's true, it's a different problem, same as if you're worried your boss is recording you or judging your furniture.

Personally I'd quit a job that told me I couldn't hold meetings with my camera on.

Turn your camera on if you want. We're talking about the opposite here, not being allowed to turn it off during meeting.

If you feel strongly about your right to turn it on if it pleases you, then you should agree with people who want the right to turn it off if they want.

The post I was replying to had a quote suggesting managers turn off their cameras in meetings. That is what the end of my comment was responding to.

> It really doesn't send a signal that you want to work with other people or participate in a discussion if you're just sitting there with the camera off.

That only matters if you aren't otherwise working with people and participating in discussions. Meetings are not where most of that happens. They aren't even where the most important of that happens.

You're projecting your personal needs onto others while not being empathetic to the needs of others. Human connections are two way but don't always involve the same avenues.

With remote work, if you're talking, I'm expecting you to be referencing something visual - a document, a diagram, etc. I'm looking at a much better eye by tracking what your cursor is doing on screen, and I find your face to be distracting. Especially having to swap views between your shared screen and your face.

“We” need? Not me, I prefer making connections to other humans outside of work.

Nope. Nobody has the right to forcefully film other people, including your manager and your coworkers.

Where do I put the film? Do I need a dark room?

Nobody is forcing. If you don't like it, find another job. But a requirement to be present in a meeting is not unreasonable, and camera on is a closer proxy to physically present than otherwise.

Remember what we did before the lockdown? Call-in meetings? No camera. This is the same thing, really but now we can do things like share screens. My team has one meeting we ask everyone to have their camera on - the sprint review. That's every two weeks and everybody is there with cameras on. Otherwise, nearly the whole team as their cameras off during meetings.

Yes it is unreasonable. Its the same as your employer installing cameras in your house to watch you.