With COVID, attending meetings online has become the only option. Online meetings have always been around but haven’t been as popular as they have been since March 2020. But is attending meetings in person the same as attending online? Below are the pros and cons of online meetings.
The benefits of online meetings
- Meet those in recovery from all over the world
- More flexibility in times of meetings
- Don’t have to worry about figuring out transportation to the meeting
The disadvantages of online meetings
- Harder to make friends
- Harder to find a sponsor
- Missing the human interaction that happens in person
- Harder to show attendance (no meeting records to sign)
- Potential for hacking and piercing the anonymity of AA
We asked several people to see what their experiences have been attending online meetings.
“I hadn’t attended meetings online until COVID. I like that I can sign on from home on the couch. I use In the Rooms and the app notifies me when a meeting is live.”
“It’s great to see people from all over.”
“I wish there were more meetings happening”
“It is hard to feel engaged online. I miss the in person stuff – I feel more connected to people when I am sitting next to them”
“I miss seeing the same people at meetings. With online meetings I feel like there are always different people in the room.”
“Attending online is better than nothing, and is our reality right now. But if I could attend meetings in person, I would.”
“I don’t have a car so attending online is much easier for me. I usually have to find a ride to the meeting.”
“COVID has made me feel even more isolated. The last thing I needed was to have in person meetings cancelled. Attending on zoom or online
What do you think? Do you find value from attending meetings online?