31 Zoom memes that capture the pain of video meetings

The pandemic has put many of us into a new world of remote work, one ruled by tools like Zoom and Slack. But it's not all bad! In fact, the shift to remote work can be super advantageous, even if the pain of too many video meetings is a common side effect.

Because we're in the video conferencing space here at Vowel, we looked at some common pain points of virtual meetings and created a fresh batch of original Zoom memes (you haven't seen these anywhere else). Get ready to dive into everything from 40-minute meeting time cutoffs to "no agenda" anger to "you're on mute" comment overload.

Enjoy!

1. Just waiting for that ol' meeting to start.

Yawn. Sigh.

2. Cameras off...please?

When you've had 16 calls in a day and you can't imagine looking at yourself any longer (there's a "hide self view" for a reason).

3. The new norm.

Back in the before times, who knew that Zoom was where you'd be spending most of your days? It's okay to feel weird about it.

4. Screen sharing woes.

But really Zoom, why do you have to make it so hard to let non-meeting owners share their screen?

5. What workday dreams are made of.

When you sincerely hope that Zoom stops working so you can finally get through your gargantuan to-do list.

6. Hm, where'd that recording go?

You recorded your meeting and you want to go back to it. Should be easy, right? Real talk: Zoom doesn't make it easy.

7. Background still loading.

Virtual backgrounds are a gift (hide that laundry!), and we thank the product manager that came up with them. Now if only they'd load a little quicker...

8. What WFH nightmares are made of.

That time you really wish you were on mute.

9. Let me the ** in.

It's a tale as old as time: you're late to a meeting, feeling stressed/anxious, and Zoom won't stop asking for your credentials.

10. Hello?

Arrrgh, everything else was set up just right!

11. Mute button shame.

Nothing like a bunch of "you're on mute" comments to make you feel like your brain isn't working properly.

12. "Zoom fatigue" isn't made up, okay?

Let's call it what it is.

13. The waiting heebie-jeebies.

There's something ominous about staring at your waiting room screen, knowing the meeting is about to start. It's not just us, right?

14. Boss...or wizard?

Your boss might be eccentric. But hands up if they're (at least) always consistent.

15. No attend-a.

We all know the importance of a good meeting agenda. So why do 87.25% of Zoom calls not have one?

16. The inevitable goodbye.

The half-hearted Zoom wave is human nature, even more so when most people are muted and don't want to actually say "bye."

17. Deep work, I miss you.

Cal Newport would never tolerate all these Zoom meetings, are we right?

18. Let's get this straight.

Never-ending Zoom calls are enough to make anyone crack. If this is you on some days, we're here to help you feel seen.

19. So, who's taking notes?

Being the assigned notetaker gets tired. Let's make taking turns (or better yet, shared notes!) a thing.

20. Saved by the time limit.

Let's not pretend we're not happy about it sometimes.

21. Still upset about agendas...

It's not okay, okay?

22. ...and meetings that could've been emails.

Is there anything worse than meeting when you definitely didn't have to meet? You can never get that time back!

23. Be careful what you meet for.

Zoom lost more than 500 million usernames and passwords in 2020. And it was recently reported that the company wants to use AI to track its users' facial expressions. Eeps.

24. Quality control.

Zoom's video quality isn't terrible. But it doesn't get it Aquaman-level right all the time.

25. More coffee, please.

Back-to-back video calls have a tendency to suck the energy out of a person. (See: Are meetings a waste of time? for tips)

26. Free plan pain, part 1.

When you're just about to prove your point (or blow people away with your part of a presentation)...and the clock hits 41 minutes.

27. Free plan pain, part 2.

Y'all get kicked out of a Zoom meeting. As a host, should you ask people to rejoin with the same link? Should you just let it end? So much pressure.

28. Thanks for the help?

Need to contact Zoom? Good luck getting a hold of a real person.

29. Pandemic pain.

It's been a long time, folks. It's okay to feel...different.

30. Relax: there's another way!

Want something that feels less clunky and more useful than Zoom? Check out Vowel — we're here to make video meetings better.

31. One more time, with feeling.

This is what happens when you keep using Zoom even though better tools exist.

Make your video meetings less painful (and more useful) with Vowel

Zoom memes aside, a lot of people don't realize how much better their video meetings could be if they used a different tool. One with built-in transcription (no add-ons!), instant recordings (no downloads!), collaborative meeting notes (no more wondering what's being captured!), and more.

If you're feeling the Zoom pain, you can try Vowel for free — no credit card required. Still not sure? Read more about how our meeting productivity tool stacks up against Zoom.