{"id":1614,"date":"2020-07-07T10:38:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T10:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jigsaw-research.co.uk\/?p=1614"},"modified":"2026-03-25T08:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:03:33","slug":"a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/","title":{"rendered":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been called the \u2018Zoom Boom\u2019. Before lockdown, there were approximately 10 million daily users on Zoom. By March, for 200 million of us each day it had become our office, our church, our classroom and our local pub. People are using Zoom to get married, to meet new arrivals, to celebrate birthdays, to observe Ramadan and more poignantly to say final words to loved ones. So ingrained in everyday life is Zoom, that when it went down one May weekend, it even affected the daily Downing Street press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the law of averages, not all of these 200m daily interactions are going to be smooth sailing. A welcome by-product of Zoom meetings is that I\u2019ve got to know colleagues\u2019 partners, children and pets as they \u2013 often unexpectedly \u2013 gatecrash internal meetings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling this could be a rich seam, we decided to search for the more unwilling stars of Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since lockdown began, at Jigsaw, we have been running a community, comprising both consumers and SMEs. As well as covering topics such as how brands have fared in lockdown, how people have been impacted emotionally and financially, and their hopes and fears for the new normal, we also wanted to explore more light-hearted topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we asked our business owners for their funny Zoom stories. They tended to fall into four main categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your family showing you up<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

They do this in everyday life, so it\u2019s no surprise that families are showing people up in digital life too. The primary source of amusement, perhaps unsurprisingly, was children. A 12-year-old boy sang Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of his lungs utterly unaware that anyone was listening. Another slightly less cultured young lad was caught picking his nose on camera! And of course, this category would not be complete with unexpected nakedness \u2013 someone\u2019s husband walked in front of the camera in his underwear while his wife was doing an online morning workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unexpected visitors<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These took the form of a visitor in the room and on Zoom. A dragonfly entering the home office of a participant caused a major panic in the middle of a call! Another business owner had a family member randomly show up on Zoom in the middle of a business meeting. Should have used Houseparty \u2013 at least you can lock the room!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slapstick<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The backbone of the British sense of humour is still causing mirth in lockdown \u2013 we know we are in trouble when we stop laughing at someone falling over. Here we had stories of a person demonstrating how to wash your hands properly \u2013 unfortunately as he was washing his hands, the soap slipped between his fingers, hit him on the head and he fell over on his back. So he may be safe from COVID-19, but less so from himself! Then there\u2019s the danger I fear; someone being so relaxed they leaned back and fell off their chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technological issues<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Technology, on the whole, has been made lockdown bearable and workable for most. The telecoms companies have kept us all up and running and in touch with colleagues and loved ones. Imagine if this had happened in the late 90s with dial-up internet and no Netflix \u2013 it would be quite a different experience! And the connections have been pretty reliable. But obviously, tech is only as good as the person operating it \u2013 and user error is alive and well in lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had stories of people accidentally muting themselves \u2013 one I can very much recognise. I think the most spoken phrase on Jigsaw Teams meetings during lockdown is \u2018you\u2019re on mute\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a tale of a business owner who managed to replace her face with a potato during a staff meeting on Zoom, and was unable to change it back \u2013 so spent the whole meeting like that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, although Zoom allows users to touch up their appearance, it can\u2019t do anything about lockdown hair. On one call, there were four male members of staff wearing sports caps \u2013 either hiding DIY haircuts or just bad hair!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s comforting to know that our sense of humour has yet to fail, thanks to our family, friends and colleagues keeping us laughing in lockdown!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali Pugh<\/a>, July 20<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been called the \u2018Zoom Boom\u2019. Before lockdown, there were approximately 10 million daily users on Zoom. By March, for 200 million of us each day it had become our office, our church, our classroom and our local pub. People are using Zoom to get married, to meet new arrivals, to celebrate birthdays, to observe Ramadan and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jigsaw Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"j.mcdonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"j.mcdonald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"j.mcdonald\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f\"},\"headline\":\"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":715,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/\",\"name\":\"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f\"},\"description\":\"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp\",\"width\":460,\"height\":460,\"caption\":\"Person lay down on zoom call with dog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/blog\\\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jigsaw Research\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f\",\"name\":\"j.mcdonald\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"j.mcdonald\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\\\/us\\\/author\\\/j-mcdonald\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research","description":"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research","og_description":"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.","og_url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/","og_site_name":"Jigsaw Research","article_published_time":"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":460,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"j.mcdonald","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"j.mcdonald","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/"},"author":{"name":"j.mcdonald","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/#\/schema\/person\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f"},"headline":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call","datePublished":"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/"},"wordCount":715,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/","url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/","name":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call - Jigsaw Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp","datePublished":"2020-07-07T10:38:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-25T08:03:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/#\/schema\/person\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f"},"description":"Read about an unexpected moment on a Zoom call that highlights the evolving nature of virtual communication. This STRAT7 Jigsaw Research blog reflects on the quirks and challenges of remote work.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call.webp","width":460,"height":460,"caption":"Person lay down on zoom call with dog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/blog\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-a-zoom-call\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A funny thing happened on a Zoom call"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/","name":"Jigsaw Research","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/#\/schema\/person\/64e874eb8b2597c592a66dd686663c5f","name":"j.mcdonald","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ebeba9f07d1d6f5851cd1d7c8006c9554c472e3fa82ddb218bd1e9d965f2b40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"j.mcdonald"},"url":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/author\/j-mcdonald\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3741,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/3741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jigsaw-research.strat7.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}