The Perils of Hosting Zoom Meetings
I thought I’d get used to the idiosyncrasies of Zoom over time. Boy was I wrong. While we’re all commiserating over this ~unprecedented~ time, I still can’t help but get flustered every time something emblematic of Zoom happens. I’ll share some of the experiences I have found particularly unnerving.
First, there are the sound issues. You know that initial moment of contact, when you’ve admitted people to your meeting and you can’t hear anyone? My heart races everytime as I figure out whether they’re on mute, I’m on mute, my volume is on mute, or my sound just doesn’t work. Terrifying.
Next, talking into the void. As someone who gets nervous talking into a room full of people, you’d think talking to a black screen would be better. It’s worse. I can no longer gauge people’s reactions in real-time and have to withstand the dead silence after making important points.
Then, on unlucky days, there is the issue of internet connectivity. I feel as if I’m constantly interrupting the other person as we play the precarious game of deciding when to speak. Also, hearing your voice echo from someone else’s computer is possibly the most dreadful and humbling experience of all time. I can feel shivers down my spine as I recount these experiences.
You also have technical things, such as transferring co-host abilities and sharing screens which disrupt the flow of speaking. Perhaps this is me just admitting that I’m not technically proficient at Zoom.
Finally, you have the awkward sign-off. In the best possible circumstances, there are clear indicators that the meeting has ended. Even when this is the case, you still make uneasy eye contact in the last three seconds between “goodbye” and “end meeting.” In other circumstances, there are no clear indicators that the meeting has ended, and it becomes a back and forth of “thank you,” “good luck,” “take care,” and “enjoy your weekend,” and at some point, someone just needs to take the plunge and press “end meeting.”
But let’s look at the silver lining. While Zoom isn’t ideal, it gave me a springboard to write this Diversions piece. And finally, it makes me appreciate the hard work our professors do every day to ensure we get a phenomenal legal education.
(All graphics are courtesy of Jennifer Sun)
