The peculiarity of Skype-immediacy and physical separation

Many of us rely more and more on video links for or communication, using Skype for example to talk to people and to see them at the same time. This is a result of the internet becoming a ubiquitous commodity. In fact, the connectedness that comes with the internet is now so pervasive that one is often caught with a feeling of loss when you cannot quickly access the web to read something on Wikipedia, or to search for a phone number of a restaurant, or to get a quick response from a friend somewhere else on the planet.

We connect through mobile phones, netbooks, laptops and less and less through machines in fixed positions. We carry our communicators with us like a Start Trek scouting party, constantly sharing ideas with like-minded people on the web. As the access to bandwidth increases and the cost per MByte of data decreases, the feasibility of adding video to the mix increases. As an early adopter of technology and self proclaimed trail blazer when it comes to accessing the newest stuff that the web can offer, I have been using Skype for quite a while now in business and in recreation. Sharing a desktop via other applications like GotoMyPC allows one to show people what you mean, to run a presentation remotely and to be in the room with a simulated presence that is often so “immediate” that it becomes possible to communicate on a very personal level over thousands of kilometers. One can see how your audience reacts to your words and gestures, you can react through voice prompts and tonal variation, and bring the message across in a way that is only really second to being there physically. The interactive nature of the Skype experience, for example, is something that could not be imagined a decade ago when we started to use instant messaging via the web and cellular mobile links.

These days I use Skype or the Jabber protocols to chat, talk and video link all the time. From talking to loved ones here in South Africa, Australia, the UK, Canada or in New Zealand, to chatting with a collaborator a few kilometers away, working from our homes on a new document deliverable. Constantly in touch, constantly aware of your social network, you become more valuable as a resource. People can see when you are awake, where you are on the planet and even judge your mood by just looking at the cryptic message on your Skype, iChat or Google Talk application.

But on another level I have been experiencing some worrying side-effects of this technology. Being ready on demand to communicate is a time consuming business. Being open to what I often see as unmaskable interrupts inhibits the ability to work for an extended period of time focussed on a specific topic. One may argue that it is simple to just switch the link off, but that feels like, and probably is akin to, going into solitary confinement, or becoming a lonely hermit somewhere on a mountain top. I think it taxes cognitive abilities and it drains energy at a rate that we did not expect. It rushes us along from one message or link to the next to service all the interrupts as well as we can. It is more invasive than e-mails.

Video feeds, despite how positive I feel about the technology, also have a negative psychological effect in many cases. Let me explain: when I do a video call to a loved one in Australia for example, there is the emotional pain of separation, the obvious reality of the missing physical immediacy of that person, which is masked by the virtual presence on my laptop screen. For 10 minutes or so, I am intimately connected to the person on another continent, I see their eyes, hear their voices, read the body language and I am tricked into feeling as if I am being with them in one physical space. So close, almost touching, so alive, almost smelling their presence. And then you terminate the call. Immediately they are again in some far-away location, there are immediate feelings of loss, as if the person was snatched away from your embrace by sudden death. Nothing “real” remains on the LCD in front of you, where their presence only lingers as some digital activity marker on the Skype application interface. The joy of being united is replaced by immediate sorrow. It is as if physical pain sweeps over one at that moment. I do not know if this is a good thing, to be subjected to the trauma of separation on a regular basis.

How this is different from the lightly scented letter, written on fine paper in a familiar handwriting, which is read over and over again and inspected for the slightest of nuances and emotion, I cannot say. However, I have a feeling that the brain is tricked more successfully into a feeling of nearness by a Skype video feed, and that the loss is greater as no trace remains when the call ends.

This, I guess, is the price we pay for being linked so closely through communication technologies, while being able to move and settle globally with immense ease. We remain souls confined to physical instantiations - bodies. Those bodies need warmth and physical closeness, a light touch on an arm, a good hug, and someone to hold when you are happy or sad.

Can someone please invent that “Beam me up, Scotty” machine soon?!


The graphic in this post is from iStockPhoto, licensed for my use. You should buy the rights to it if you want to use it - it is the ethical thing to do.