COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF BLACK SCREENS “...WHOEVER LOOKS AT ME IN BLACK DOES NOT KNOW WHO I AM…”

Abstract

Why do we have the black screens (closed cameras) when we are at the zoom? This is the Millennium 'Dollar' Question. From my doctoral research: Communication in the age of black screen, I research the phenomenon of black screens when using zoom. I wish I could write one main reason responsible for closing the cameras and the appearance of the black screens phenomenon, because if there was one, then there would also be one solution and our (teachers) lives would be much easier. The reasons for closing the cameras are many and varied, including: socioeconomic, social, digital, psychoanalytic, multitasking and sometimes even boredom and lack of interest. The latter is also found in school but zoom has a seemingly democratic ‘delegitimization’ of choosing whether to be or not to be. Or in other words - whether to open the camera or not. (Although not always at camera closure the participant disappears). I will not expand in this article the discussion of the pros and cons of opening the camera when using zoom, although these are derived from the text, but will seek to reveal the mental mechanisms that work on zoom participants and how these mechanisms affect zoom communication and user experience. This article is about Zoom's Self-Representation.