Are you still watching?

Why video-call your friend just to watch them work or study? Over WiFi, this low-effort connection is now possible, cheap and strangely welcome

- Phorum Pandya

ho knew, when WhatsApp launched video-calling in 2016, that we'd end up calling a loved one, but not really chatting, just leaving the screen on for hours - often the whole evening - while we simply completed chores, got office work done, or just chilled with silent, distant company?

Think of it as low-stakes socialising. No one wants the rundown of your day or what you had for lunch. No one wants you to look at the screen too often. Just be there for someone you care about. It’s really what you'd be doing with an old friend or a family member if you were both in the same room.

Dial it down

Everyone's playing with the idea differently. Bhavya Gehlot, 26, a researcher in the US, met marketing executive Jaay Rathod, 28, at the Coldplay concert in Mumbai in 2024. It kicked off a long-distance relationship, one that started off with structured calls and conversation, and excited chats. “But the 12-hour time difference meant that my morning routine in California overlapped with his night routine in India,” Gehlot says. “We didn't always have much to share, but we didn’t want to lose touch. So, we stuck to video calls as we went about doing our own thing.” The calls lasted 20 minutes to an hour, but the silences were anything but awkward. “Sometimes, one of us is doing a task while the other just quietly sits there on the screen. We're simply sharing the same virtual space.”