I'm a member of a private online pomodoro group, every 30 minutes or so the bell dings and we all chat, if we want, for a few minutes then get back to work. Those who want to show their cam do, but mostly we don't and we tend to talk about the tasks we are doing and how it's going. It's informal and geared towards independence but with enough communication that I don't feel I'm isolated. I think it's a much better balance than having some panopticon-inspired structure enforcing productivity through embarrassment.