Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Three years ago, video chat appeared set to revolutionize the way we work. All we actually got was slightly better video chat.
Video-first communication obviously became much more important to many with the covid pandemic. With people suddenly forced to use video chat for work, school, and even to visit with their families, there was a rush of interest in apps and platforms that promised to make the concept of sitting in front of a webcam a bit more exciting.
Lots of companies rolled out ways to watch videos together. Meta rolled out 50-person Messenger Rooms. Video messaging apps Houseparty and Marco Polo blew up. Hopin tried to make virtual events feel more like an in-person conference. M…