Stephen Frank, California Political News and Views
We are living in a new world. No longer do we have meetings. Instead we have conference calls. But audio is not enough, we like to see the person or people on the call. So, many of us use Skype, Facebook and other applications to talk with family and close friends—anywhere in the world. Now, ZOOM has become the application of choice for lots of groups and organizations. I have used it periodically for a couple of years and found it easy to use.
Now, it is a must have application and many groups are moving toward board meetings, discussion groups and weekly updates, via ZOOM. Like Google,, Facebook and Twitter, ZOOM is a word we will all understand, just by mentioning it. It will become the Jell-O of our generation.
“Though Zoom the company doesn’t release download or usage numbers, Zoom the app has been the top free download in Apple’s App Store for over a week (followed by TikTok and Google Hangouts). According to the New York Times, the company is currently valued at $29 billion.
In the early stages of this cultural shift, as we slowly acclimate to our new lives on Zoom, the now-familiar awkwardness of the format has emerged.
Invariably, someone will forget to mute themselves. Invariably, someone (maybe the same someone) will also forget to unmute themselves. At least 10 minutes of every hour-long meeting is eaten up by “Can you hear me?” “You’re muted, you have to click the button.” “Is so-and-so here? I can’t see her.” “Can you mute yourself? We’re hearing some background noise.” “Who said that?” “I’m sorry, you go ahead.” “No, you go.” Ad infinitum.
People launch into poetic or encouraging speeches about the importance of continuing to do our very important work, unaware that they’ve frozen on everyone else’s screens with only garbled half-words coming through the ether. Someone attempting to use Zoom without headphones creates an echoing feedback loop that drives everyone momentarily insane.
Remember[SF1] your headphones!!
Related article | Have You Accepted Zoom As Your Lord and Savior?
Stephen Frank: Is the the publisher and editor of the California Political News and Views. Mr. Frank speaks all over California and appears as a guest on several radio shows each week. He has also served as a guest host on radio talk shows and is a full time political consultant. http://capoliticalnews.com/
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.
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