Remote workers' Zoom group

January 18, 2022 10:13 AM

Earlier in the panny I read about Zoom groups for remote workers, where you join in and just have a little human companionship and mild accountability while you are working, sometimes featuring a few minutes of chatting before getting down to work. Now that I would like to join one I can't seem to find the right search term. Can you help?
posted by HotToddy to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Looks like "virtual coworking" and "accountability zoom" are common phrases, but I think the bulk of these at this point are happening inside companies - I've got several on my calendar from various groups/departments at my company, sometimes called "office hours" and sometimes "open work sessions", and one specifically called a "jam session" where people take turns streaming a playlist they've made.

Might be worth putting up a MeTa about it, though?
posted by Lyn Never at 10:22 AM on January 18

I've been using Focusmate, which I think I first read about here. There generally aren't a "few minutes" of chatting though - more like a minute of "hello, what're you gonna work on" and then we get down to it.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:46 AM on January 18 [5 favorites]

You can also use the search term "body doubling" for this type of working together.
posted by skunk pig at 10:47 AM on January 18 [1 favorite]

Caveday is one that I've heard of but I haven't tried it.
posted by bleep at 11:18 AM on January 18

Previously on the front page. Focusmate, Caveday, and 1 more.
posted by brainwane at 1:39 PM on January 18

I think one reason you may not have been able to find them with your previous search terms is that often these are videocall platforms/services that do not use Zoom specifically. For instance, Focusmate uses a different videoconferencing platform (daily.co) and you access it through your web browser.
posted by brainwane at 1:42 PM on January 18

Here’s a recent post on the blue that talks about this.
posted by _Mona_ at 4:39 PM on January 18

Response by poster: Thanks all! I just did a session with FocusMate and in 50 minutes was able to complete a scary organizational task I’d been putting off for months. AMAZING. I’m sold.
posted by HotToddy at 10:03 AM on January 19 [2 favorites]