Virtual Celebrations with Friends and Family

Thanksgiving day was a blast! With the help of technology, family and friends I haven’t seen for ages were all smiling and sharing greetings, stories and smiles by video at my Thanksgiving dining table. Best of all, I didn’t have to drive, cleanup as much and I could pop in and out for other video chats and tasks.

Thanksgiving day has come and gone. Year end holidays stand between us and the end of a long, unforgettable year. Part of 2020 history and pop culture is the rise of Zoom meetings and gatherings for everyday connection with our colleagues, family, and social events.

There are many video meeting services available, but Zoom.com rose to the top quickly and dramatically. It is easy to use and enables dozens, scores, and hundreds of people to communicate by video. There are several video conference applications available for smartphones, computers and tablets. I’ve used Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Webex in business meeting settings. The latest to this group is Google Meet. Twitter’s Periscope application existed, but was complicated in my opinion. However, these applications were not prepared for the non-business or super-large conference market explosion that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. Zoom’s features, branding, promotion and cost were disruptive to the video conference market.

Since not all video applications enable multiple users and sharing content at the same time, the video app marketplace is no longer bifurcated between business and individual usage; it’s very diverse. This can be confusing for the average consumer. For example, FaceTime, Google Duo are smartphone apps that have recently upgraded their features from person-to-person to small groups which can conference up to 32 people; but still no content sharing.

Content sharing matters when you want to play games or share photos, slides and videos while seeing video of the attendees at the same time.

Skype has been around forever for both individual and business use, but it needs a marketing makeover in order to inspire occasional users to download it again. Instagram, SnapChat, WhatsApp and FaceBook offer group video messaging and calls with specific rules. However, these platforms require membership and have privacy policies so interlinked with their advertising business model, that I avoid them. I just want to talk to my mom-not sign away my life!

Keep it simple. Download Zoom and say hello to your loved ones. You’ll be glad you did.