While there are an annoying amount of video conferencing apps being used in the time of coronavirus, Zoom seems to be the one everyone is talking about. Although it’s not always for a good reason, like when trolls invade private chats.
Besides being free, one of the good things about Zoom is virtual backgrounds. They’re fun and can be used to hide a hideously messy house from your co-workers. Or if you’re sneaky, you can even fake paying attention. Here’s how to make them.
How to make a custom Zoom background
This is super simple! While in a Zoom call simply click on the arrow next to the video button and then click on ‘video settings’. You’ll be presented with a menu on the left hand side of the screen – click on ‘virtual background’. From there you can upload image files and click on the one you would like to use. Voila, you’re done!
Click on the small arrow next to the video button
While some of you may want to to go with something reminiscent of a time where we could travel freely, like a beach or mountainside, I’ve opted for Age of Empires and the creepy mural from Midsommar.
You’re welcome
How to fake being in a Zoom meeting
If you’re feeling cheeky, you may even want to fake paying attention/actually being in the room during a Zoom meeting. This is certainly not something I have ever done in our daily editorial meetings, boss.
This little trick seemed to have first garnered attention on TikTok, where teens uploaded some how-to posts that showed them recording videos of themselves seemingly paying attention and then uploading it as a looping virtual background on Zoom.
You gotta hand it to the little scamps, it’s pretty funny.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/03/zoom-meetings-security-how-to-stop-trolls/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/zoom-security-trolls-410×231.png” title=”How To Stop Trolls From Crashing Your Zoom Meetings” excerpt=”Video conferencing has become the norm in most of our lives due to coronavirus – whether it’s for work, study or catching up with friends and family. But the adoption of these apps has brought about privacy concerns. Over the past few weeks Zoom has been a target for trolls ‘zoombombing’ meetings. This can involve anything from annoying spam to screen sharing porn. If you want to avoid this on your Zoom calls, we have some tips.”]