All posts

Zoom observations redux

2020-04-25 05:57 BST

I had my last week of Zoom classes (hopefully forever) this week.

• It finally happened. One of my professors had their internet cut out in the middle of class. Unfortunate European internet. What ensued:
  
  • A minute of silence, and watching different people watching different people's reactions.
  • "Why does Alex get to be the new host?"
  • "Can I kick people now?"
  • "Let's put Jesse in a waiting room."
  • The host would like you to unmute your microphone.
• One of my professors has drop-in office hours, where you literally drop into his private meeting room. No waiting room or password or anything. It's oddly intimate, not knowing which three other classmates you'll see there. In real life I would knock and wait outside.
• Lots more thank you's at the end of class.
• I went to two talks, with over a hundred people on the call at each. The talks were great, but some audience questions were unstoppable. They were manifestos and monologues, not questions. I guess first, you can't read the moderator's "please shut up now" body language as well (or can choose to ignore it). Second, you can't sense the hundred people in the audience giving you "please shut up now" energy as well. Can you believe talks can be even worse on Zoom than classes are?