Andrea Diaz
Staff Writer
As the fall semester begins, many students and teachers are using Zoom meetings for classes. With these Zoom meetings come unspoken rules that we should all follow to prevent reputational disaster.
For instance, let’s say you are in a Zoom meeting and are just joining, please mute your microphone immediately or it can get really awkward. For example, according to ET’s “Zoom Fails: 10 Best Moments Working From Home During Coronavirus Outbreak,” a man accidentally kept his micro-phone on while talking to his cat. Which if you own a pet, you know the voice you use when speaking to your pet is not the most masculine or professional voice and can be pretty embarrassing.
Backgrounds are a fun way to personalize your surroundings, but please make sure you know how to properly use them and that they are appropriate. A boy was in a school Zoom meeting when he discovered how to change his background. He then proceeded to change it to a very large and smiling picture of Danny Devito.
If you keep your camera on, for every-one’s sake, please make sure what you are doing while on camera is appropriate. A woman by the name of Jennifer was in a Zoom meeting with her camera on and she decided that she needed to go to the bath-room. This is totally fine, unless, like Jennifer, you forget about the webcam, take your laptop with you and leave the cam-era on as you are going to the bathroom.
If you have objects, paintings, photos or just general knickknacks in the background make sure they are appropriate. Gareth Barlow, a senior reporter at BBC World, was in a virtual meeting when he realized the art that he had in the background probably wasn’t the most appropriate. There was a specific piece of art depicting a farmer sticking his arm in the backside of a cow.
While we’re on the topic, let’s talk about do’s and don’ts of Zoom culture, which can help make the Zoom experience more enjoyable and easier on everybody participating.
Do’s:
Do find a quiet place that is free of distractions.
Do wait your turn to speak to unmute your microphone.
Do make sure you have headphones if you are in a public place so everyone around isn’t forced to listen in on a class they aren’t paying for.
Don’ts:
Don’t chat or say something to a classmate you wouldn’t want the professor to see or hear.
Don’t sit by another person in the exact same zoom call.
Don’t leave your microphone on.
And last but not least, don’t have your pet walk by or be in the shot with-out showing them off to the other people in the meeting. Let’s face it, everybody loves pets more than people.
Zoom and virtual meetings, in general, are very new to a lot of people and this new way of taking classes is like nothing we have ever seen before. This semester looks very different for all of us, but we will make it work as we work together as a Bengal community.
Whether you put makeup on and want to look your best for a Zoom meeting or don’t care and leave your pajamas on, whether you decorate and customize your background or keep it the way it is, whether you have children or pets in the background, whether you are a head-set-user or an earbuds-user, we will continue to succeed in this semester and make the most out of it like true Bengals
