The Emergence of Zoom
Until a few months ago, many people had never heard of the video conferencing platform Zoom.
As more and more people have transitioned to working from home, Zoom has become the new norm and most widely used solution to connect with people around the world. With no telling when the world will return back to “normal,” Zoom continues to play a major role in our lives.
Growing more by the day, Mansoor Iqbal of Business of Apps estimates that “there are over 300 million daily meeting participants.” 300 million! Included in these users are the UK cabinet and 90,000 schools in 20 different countries. These numbers are astounding.
Additionally, according to Mike Minter at Financial Synergies, “Zoom is now worth more than the top seven airlines combined with a Market Capitalization of $48.78B compared to the $46.21B of the airlines.”
While these numbers are impressive, I find the unique ways Zoom is used as a communication tool even more magnificent. This includes broadcasting bar mitzvahs, performing concerts, throwing school graduations and holding wedding ceremonies. Each and every day, society is coming up with new ways for Zoom users to tell their stories.
One of my favorites that I have seen so far is the completion of the NFL Draft. Players were meeting with general managers during the draft process and personnel communicated from separate locations when making their picks.
Another example that I enjoyed was the NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The cast was able to put together a 90-minute show with sketches and all. Comedians filmed from various locations in their homes using green screen backgrounds to provide different visuals.
Despite COVID-19, it has been inspiring to see the creativity from society and their desire to continue to connect with each other, whether it is for work, happy hours or just to chat. I believe Zoom is here to stay and will continue to contribute to mobile storytelling. While I haven’t been able to see certain friends and family in person, the platform has allowed me to catch up with my grandparents, friends and professors all across the country.
But, why is Zoom so popular? I mean, platforms like FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Skype have been around for years and yet people still prefer Zoom.
It’s because of their simple model. It offers free conference calls with up to 100 participants by default and up to 500 with the “large meeting” add-on.
Further, it is easy to use as people don’t need a log-in to enter a meeting, and the interface is straightforward. More detailed differences include the ability to record the meeting, the built-in beautification filter, and the option to choose a virtual background.
I find it astounding that these other options were not able to figure out these important details over the progression of the last decade. Users, myself included, also prefer the overall quality of Zoom over other interfaces. Going forward, I believe I will find myself continuing to share my stories through this great platform.
