Online Communication: Does It Make the World Bigger or Smaller?

Candidate Insights

Nov 2

With the rise and spread of COVID-19 around the world, many are now communicating online more than ever before. Happy hours and coffee meet-ups have been replaced with hanging out on Zoom. In fact, online chat platforms have taken so dominant a place in our life that jokes about them have become popular.

Though we can’t physically spend much time with our friends, co-workers, or even strangers, we’ve managed to find a substitute: the internet. On the one hand, the now commonplace forms of online communication would seem to bring us together. After all, they offer flexibility and convenience while still enabling us to chat with our friends. For instance, at Juno, we have had various iterations of group messages that connect us even when we’re apart, and allow us to share aspects about our lives with one another, even after hours or on weekends.

However, online communication—whether by video platform or messaging app—is also a daily reminder of how distant from one another we’ve truly become. Instead of stopping by your co-worker’s desk to say hi or make lunch plans, you, instead, have to schedule a time in advance to Zoom (this time in verb form) with them. What’s lost in online communication is the casualness and spontaneity that comes with knowing someone.

Ultimately, the pandemic has forced people and organizations to get creative in the ways we imagine being together. This hasn’t been a seamless process. When we first began working from home full-time, back in March, we were conducting daily Zoom meetings to make sure we were all on the same page. We later realized that this was unnecessary, so we moved our Zoom meetings to twice-weekly, and then once per week. Adjusting modes of online communication to the new dynamics of working during COVID.

Nevertheless, at Juno, we’ve tried to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation. We frequently create opportunities for online camaraderie that are more than just a typical Zoom call. From ice cream socials to bingo nights, we’ve managed to create a team environment that attempts to replicate the feeling of in-person activities. Now spearheaded by our Employee Engagement Committee, innovating with online forms of communication promises to try and bridge the gap left in the wake of being physically distanced from one another for the foreseeable future.

While online communication might be symptomatic of our distance, collaboration and creativity can alleviate this and allow for new ways of being together.