With a Zoom and a Zump

A month ago, I had never had a Zoom meeting. I’m not sure I even knew what it was. Now, it’s a huge part of my life.

In case you don’t know, Zoom is a type of teleconferencing.

For work, we Zoom for our everyday editorial meetings. We Zoom for interviews. We even Zoom to get the teleprompter from the TV station into my house. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Zoom has helped reshape my work life.

My personal life, too.

I did a Zoom meet up with a couple of friends last week. Mary Dee and Mary Lynn in Paris, Texas—almost like being back home.

I’m hearing of Zoom board meetings. Zoom classrooms. Zoom church services. Even Zoom funerals. Zoom is now a thing.

So, what is it? Zoom Video Communications is best known for what most of us are using it for… teleconferencing. it has been around for awhile, but with the Coronavirus pandemic, Zoom seems to have come into its own. Millions are using it.

With all that popularity, there are some issues.

“Zoombombing,” that’s when an unwanted participant finds a way into a Zoom meeting. Crash it. They are there to disrupt. Make trouble. The FBI has even issued warnings about it. Improving Zoom security, according to CNET, is a way to avoid this. Most of it has to do with changing settings. While Zoombombing may sound funny, you probably don’t want some creep making their way into a child’s classroom and saying who knows what?

Then there’s this. “Zumping.” That’s the term for getting dumped by way of Zoom. It’s happening.

According to the New York Post, as more and more people use Zoom to meet up during their social distancing, it is also being used for breaking up. It’s better than “ghosting,” I guess—that’s ending all communication with no warning.

Zumping… Only now, in this time of technology and pandemic, would we come up with a word like this. In the old days, Neil Sedaka sang that “breaking up is hard to do.” Not anymore. It’s easy. In 2020, you meet on Zoom. If it doesn’t work out, just “zump ’em.”