So we're doing the what is old is new again?

Next, I'll be reading having to wear a coat and tie on a zoom call. The old days you had to have your IBM approved suit with your high&tight (or similarly strict) hair style and closely shaved face. Everyone got sick of that, and it went to casual fridays are still too uptight, so flip flops, shorts and tanktops became the norm. Long hair any above the shoulders became fashionable, and bonus points if you pulled it up into a bun.

now, the pendulum has swung back, and people are trying to differentiate themselves by going back to smartly dressed clean cut. round round like a record, and yet it never ceases to amaze how the repeat makes it out like its the brand new thing nobody has ever seen before. just like redoing your entire code base in $newLanguageDijour.

Almost like human psychology hasn't changed that much. And plus, you don't need to get carried away, simply investing in a decent mic and having a camera that isn't pointed straight up your nose is enough to differentiate you in most meetings.

I'm shocked at the pushback on this, it shouldn't be surprising that people like seeing decent looking people. You don't need to loom like an Instagram model, I certainly don't. But spending 15 minutes on Amazon and 20 minutes of setup time to make yourself look better on video calls isn't a huge ask. Hell, BO issues from not showering would be a more major career-limiting move in an office, and on zoom the only way your coworkers can tell you didn't shower is if you actively look greasy. This is way less of an ask, acting like making yourself presentable on camera is a huge burden is crazy to me. It's way easier to be presentable on zoom, because again just spending $30 on a mic is a game changer.

Yeah it is a very low bar to just look presentable for a video call. I actually prefer calls where people have their video turned on.There is a lot of visual cues to know how your idea is coming across from people's facial expressions, and people generally seem more attentive when their video is turned on.

the fact that you're not looking at me while you're looking at my image on the screen means the big social cue of eye contact is lost, so i feel like you are avoiding eye contact and not really tuned in.

so until everyone starts to use teleprompters, it is just so off-putting to me that i just can't do it.

What is culturally seen as looking nice may change over the years, but the fact that looking as nice as possible even if casual helps you in the workplace and life never really changed. We have sort of leaned into looking like you aren't trying in the last decade, but the core principle never really changed.

s/Dijour/du jour/

The obvious advantage being that we can easily fake a flattering wardrobe with a green turtleneck.

I'm really not sure anybody thinks this is new. I certainly don't; I'm old enough to have worn a tie to work. I hated it.

Reading through the comments I don't get the impression anybody else thinks it's new either. It reads like you're just looking for reasons to insult people. That's a shame.

If you want to seek out jobs where remote conferencing is eschewed and nobody sees each others' faces, I think that's valid. I won't insult you.

For me there is a strong positive mental health component to having at least some brief human contact with my coworkers, even if it's just Zoom. However quite honestly 15 minutes a day is plenty for me usually... I am much closer to feeling like you than the "return to office" advocates, that is certain.

I hope that as individuals and as a society we can get to a point where we accept that some people want to work remotely and anonymously, some want to work in offices, and many prefer someplace in the middle. And that people from one group won't insult the other.