[JoeAltmaier]

I've noticed that it takes a different effort to communicate digitally than in-person. I can talk to a person in a car as I drive, no problem. But talk (even hands-free) over a phone and it takes a lot more attention. As accident statistics point out.

Why is this? I think we're wired to interact in-person. When we try to talk to a person we can't sense directly, we have to build a brain model of them. That takes quite a bit more effort.

As an experiment I tried putting my hand up to block my passenger from view as I drove. Immediately I could tell I was paying less attention to the road, vividly. Just having them out of view, even peripherally, made for a different experience.

[hamandcheese]

For driving-and-talking specifically, I remember reading somewhere that when you need to pause for a second and focus on driving, it’s obvious why to a passenger and they can preemptively stop talking, but not obvious to someone on the phone. The person on the phone has no context and will keep talking in your ear as you try to maneuver through a stressful situation.

[chadlavi]

this is slightly different from the problem of not seeing someone, but the fact that video chat software demands a walkie-talkie style "you talk, then I talk, then you talk" style of conversation is very difficult. Normal human conversation includes a lot of natural (and sometimes productive) cross-talk.

[JoeAltmaier]

Agreed! I was part of a product team that build Sococo Teamspace, including a video chat that allowed interruption. Everybody could talk at once, and still hear everyone else. It made an amazing difference.