When stay-at-home orders forced millions of us to talk to each other online, many folks discovered that they weren't all that keen on what they looked like on Zoom. Heather Schwedel was one of them.
At one of her Zoom meetings, "a gargoyle" stared back at her from her laptop screen, said Schwedel, who works for the online magazine Slate. It was her face, which looked a "dull shade of greige (you know, gray-beige)." And, was one of her eyes "wonky?"
"I don't think it's especially vain of me or anyone else to worry about my on-camera grotesquery; video conferencing awakens the vanity in all of us," she said.
Seeing our faces in full Zoom, in fact, has been enough of a shock to send some of us to the plastic surgeon.
Members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons report increased demand for cosmetic enhancements, especially Botox injections and fillers that erase lines, wrinkles, crow's feet and all those telltale signs of aging on the face. Patients also are inquiring about more invasive surgical procedures, including tummy tucks, breast augmentations and liposuction.
"It is a Zoom thing," said Dr. Michelle De Souza, a plastic surgeon for the University of Kansas Health System. "They are commenting on their appearance on the webcam or the computer, that they look tired, they look mean.
"I just think the camera sometimes is not flattering."
Wearing masks has people focusing more closely on their eyes and foreheads — the parts of their face not hidden.