Several game publishers and TV and film studios have jumped in on the Zoom trend as they contribute their own specially-made backgrounds.
With the novel coronavirus pandemic halting almost every known industry today, one particular service is reaping tremendous benefits. Going on lockdown and following social distancing protocols can be a sad thing, especially if one is heavily reliant on social interactions for either work, education, and pleasure.
Thankfully, there are video-conferencing services out there that could at least alleviate some of the issues presented by social distancing. In fact, most social interactions today are done mostly through video calls. Businesses, schools, and people from all walks of life are turning to Zoom to continue functioning.
A growing trend in this time of isolation is the use of Zoom backgrounds to keep video chats and meetings interesting. For most people, it has become a way to express their interests or hide the disarray in one’s room.
Several companies jump in on the Zoom background trend
Because Zoom has become quite a popular platform, it’s only natural that some companies would want to join in on the fun. In fact, several game publishers such as Atlas and Bethesda have made their own unique backgrounds to contribute to the Zoom experience.
The same goes for movie and television studios like Pixar that also contributed their own backgrounds depicting iconic imagery from films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and sharing it on Twitter. Some companies, however, prefer to keep things within their own platform like HBO and Marvel, which shared their backgrounds through their own websites.
Check out some of those backgrounds down below.
Zoom prioritizes security
Zoom’s rise to prominence had been meteoric, especially during the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, misfortune soon befell the platform when it was unable to keep up with the hundreds of millions of people that began to use their service overnight.
Soon enough, security and privacy issues were brought into the spotlight, and the “Zoom bombing,” a term used to refer to infiltrate Zoom meetings without prior invitation, became a disruptive trend within their service. With the backlash that came from these issues, Zoom had no choice but to acknowledge them and issue an apology, promising to correct the vulnerabilities found in their platform.
Now, the company has put a halt to the addition of new features as they focus on making the Zoom app more secure and safe for its users. And for all the hate that they had received, it seems like Zoom is indeed making big steps when it comes to security.
Zoom has now given more security control for hosts with a feature called “Security.” This would allow hosts to give immediate action to issues like Zoom bombing. A host can now lock a meeting or remove participants. Furthermore, the Security option will not allow participants to share their screens or change their names.
There is now also a default Waiting Room function that enables hosts to manually allow the participants to the meeting. Meeting IDs will no longer be displayed on the title toolbar.
Clearly, the Zoom app had made some strides when it comes to security and probably deserves a second chance, especially since more security updates are scheduled to be implemented.
Transport yourself to one of our worlds during your next video call with these backgrounds! pic.twitter.com/EbP0EnPZP6
— Bethesda (@bethesda) April 7, 2020
For all your virtual meetings???? with the rest of the Shadaloo corporation, we have some classic Street Fighter II backgrounds for you to use. Meet like a World Warrior! ???????????????? #SFII pic.twitter.com/RgVQ45fF15
— Street Fighter (@StreetFighter) April 9, 2020
Why not add a bit of flair to your Zoom video calls with a custom background?
Mosey on over to the #SquareEnix Blog where we’ve gathered together a number of #FinalFantasy VII Remake designs for you to use! #FF7R
????️ https://t.co/EYWAq4jpDR pic.twitter.com/pRJO51UzTj
— FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE (@finalfantasyvii) April 2, 2020
Spice up your next video conference call with these backgrounds! pic.twitter.com/dKDpgkrIdw
— Life at Ubisoft @Home (@LifeatUbisoft) April 6, 2020
ご自由にお使いください! #スーパーマリオオデッセイ #壁紙 pic.twitter.com/4ZEai1wm2z
— スーパーマリオ オデッセイ (@mario_odysseyJP) April 6, 2020
To your favorite Pixar locations…and beyond! Let the fun begin with these rootin’, tootin’ video call backgrounds! pic.twitter.com/xidQ5thBn4
— Pixar (@Pixar) March 30, 2020
Images courtesy of Julia M. Cameron/Pexels and Zoom/Twitter