Your Zoom Background May Be Making You Tired

Pandemic lockdowns are over, but videoconferencing is here to stay. According to a recent study, choosing the right background for your virtual meeting can help you feel less tired.

Spending hours on video calls can cause so-called videoconferencing fatigue (VF) or Zoom fatigue, characterized by physical, emotional, or cognitive tiredness.

Data suggests that the level of VF can depend on socio-demographic variables and personality traits: female, younger, and more introverted participants were found to suffer from it more.

Now, researchers in Singapore have investigated a potential relationship between virtual backgrounds and VF. Their findings were published in Frontiers in Psychology.

The researchers carried out a survey with 610 participants aged between 22 and 76 who worked from home around three days a week. They were asked whether they used virtual backgrounds and what type of background they chose — static image, blurred image, video, or no virtual background.

The level of VF was measured using a five-point scale that indicated levels of general, visual, social, motivational, and emotional fatigue.

“Our brains automatically react to new information in the environment. This consumes cognitive resources, which then increases cognitive load and consequently leads to VF,” said Heng Zhang, co-author of the study and a researcher at the Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.

The authors say videoconferencing fatigue depends on how much new information is contained in the background.

Image backgrounds initially present new information, but users might gradually shift their attention elsewhere. While blurred backgrounds don’t introduce new information, they offer occasional glimpses of the real environment, which contains new information.

Video backgrounds, however, continuously introduce new information, constantly interrupting users’ attention and putting a demand on cognitive resources.

Zhang

‘Virtual nature’ can help

The study suggests that the environment depicted in the background can also influence VF. For example, nature-themed backgrounds were associated with lower levels of Zoom fatigue.

Other backgrounds, such as settings or public spaces, can put pressure on the participants to self-present as if they actually were in one of those settings, leading to increased fatigue.

“In a work setting, a nature-themed image background might be the ideal choice,” Zhang adds.

Participants who used lighthearted and funny backgrounds reported the lowest VF levels when being on calls in relaxed settings.

However, the authors note that it is important to choose backgrounds appropriately, as different contexts call for different types of backgrounds.

Zoom fatigue has many causes

Experts say some of the causes of Zoom fatigue may include the following:

• Too much eye contact. In video calls, everyone is constantly watching one another. Moreover, the size of the faces on the screen gives the impression of being near one another, which our brains interpret as an intense situation.
• Increased cognitive load. Seeing only each other’s faces and exaggerating our facial expressions so others can see we are taking part in the discussion requires more energy and effort, which increases cognitive load.
• Reduced mobility. Restricting ourselves to the video camera frame on our computers is also limiting our ability to think or communicate well.
• The mirror effect. Being in a Zoom meeting is the equivalent of taking a perpetual selfie that mirrors everything you do. This effect increases feelings of exhaustion that, over time, will negatively affect mental health and wellness.

As the amount of work time spent in meetings is only increasing, it is crucial for our wellbeing to find ways to make Zoom calls less tiring.