Zooming through the Quarantine

As one of the most popular forms of video communication, you have most likely heard of, if not used, Zoom Video Conferencing at some point during this quarantine. I, for one, highly encourage it as a way to connect with groups of friends or family to talk to and see one another. As I have had time to hang out with people over Zoom, I have found fun and interesting activities in an attempt to imitate normal interactions.

Games:

I greatly enjoy playing games with friends or family and in big groups or small, so I was pleased to find that doing them over Zoom is not all that difficult. There are, however, some games that work better than others and even some that are more unique to Zoom. Trivia games are possibly the easiest games to play over video as they are speaking based. For games that are based on cards or a board, it tends to require all players to own the game and often difficult or awkward camera angles. Taking this into account, games that require just a normal deck of cards are relatively simple, as most people own a standard deck. Apart from plenty of free online game options, there are some games that can be played without anything but your device. One of my favorites simply uses the chat feature in Zoom and works well with large groups: Without planning who is going to go when or establishing any pattern, attempt to count in order in the chat, one number at a time without repeating. Overall, be creative! Find games that are relatively hands-free and try them in a call, or come up with new games using the features in Zoom.

Practical Jokes:
[Disclaimer: These jokes are not intended to be used to hurt or offend and should not be used in such a way]

Most weeks, on Friday afternoon, I have been meeting with a group of my friends from school over Zoom to chat, check up on each other, and just hang out. Within a tight group of friends, there is nothing quite like a harmless practical joke to get a good laugh going. If you are the host of a meeting, you have certain powers in a Zoom call. One of those powers is muting other people. Say your friend is telling a funny, but lengthy story about his/her past week. He/she has stopped looking directly at the screen and is sitting back in a chair while telling the story. Surely they won't notice that the microphone in the corner of their image now is red with a line through it and that they are in fact muted. Laugh with your other friends at the silent expressions and speech of the muted one until he/she finally realizes that they've been muted. You don't have to be the host to have some fun, though. Anyone can rename themselves under the participants tab. This can lead to everyone doubling over laughing. Try renaming yourself "connecting to audio..." so it looks as if you can't hear your friends and then talk about specific things someone said after renaming yourself to your real name. Freaky. You can also name yourself the same as someone else. Soon everyone will catch on and no one will know who is saying what in the chat. Either that or one person seems to be very indecisive:

Ben to Everyone
Did you know Cold Stone is doing delivery now? I got it the other day.

Ben to Everyone
Oh that's cool! I haven't had Cold Stone in forever...

Ben to Everyone
Me neither, but ya know... I don't really like ice cream.

Ben to Everyone
Oh yeah! I remember you saying that. I LOVE ice cream. lol. 

Group Projects:

Being a "people person," some of my favorite things at school are group activities and projects. Additionally, I just appreciate having a project to work on in general. Unfortunately, doing a music project with friends over Zoom is impossible due to the inconsistent delay. There are, however, features in Zoom that make other projects possible. Specifically, I would like to highlight the ability for the host to record the meeting (both video and audio). So, you can get a group of friends together and do a little skit, changing your virtual backgrounds to fit the setting of the story. I took advantage of the ability to record the audio by writing and producing an audiodrama over Zoom. You can find the finished product here. There is also a whiteboard under the share screen tab, so artists can show their friends their ability to draw with a mouse (impressive!). 

What Else Can You Do Over Zoom:

I am very grateful for the ability to connect with friends and family in this way, despite certain quarantine restrictions. I'd be interested to know some ways that you have been using Zoom to hang out with friends, work from home, or anything in between. Let me know if you have any ideas or how some of the ideas above worked for you. You can email me at cgottry22@gmail.com and maybe I can add you to my Zoom story!