Here’s how you Zoomed over 2021
Rhonda Hughes, Global Content & Social Advocacy Lead at Zoom, discusses the communication platform’s usage over the past year.
If you’re like me and everyone else across the globe, you’ve spent a lot of time on Zoom this past year — for work collaboration, personal connection, and everything in between.
We are pretty curious people here at Zoom, and we LOVE data, so that got us wondering: How long is the average Zoom meeting? How often do people try to talk while on mute? Who else is waving at the end of a Zoom call?
We pulled some usage metrics, sent out a survey, and aggregated a bunch of data to look at how people connected using Zoom this past year, plus identified some meeting norms you might relate to. (Spoiler: Yes, most of you wave at the end of meetings.)
We hope you find these stats as insightful — and relatable — as we do. Enjoy!
About those meetings
We aggregated a bit of Zoom usage data from a 12-month period (15th Nov 2020, to 15th Nov 2021) to glean some insights. In the past year:
- Zoom was used in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world
- The top day of the week for meetings was Wednesday, followed by Tuesday and Thursday
- The average meeting length was 54 minutes
- The average meeting size was 10 participants
Additionally, these were the busiest Zoom days of 2021 (so far):
- For virtual meetings: Jan. 21 (which also happens to be National Hug Day!)
- For phone calls: Sept. 21
- For webinars: Feb. 25
How do you like to meet?
In addition to those fun stats, we surveyed nearly 1,700 people who have used Zoom in the past year for a glimpse at what’s happening while you’re meeting virtually. Raise your virtual hand if you can relate to some of these!
How you’re showing up
Some common habits and preferences:
- 68% dress casually for meetings
- Almost half of you (47%) say it’s never OK to eat during meetings
- 26% never (or almost never) shower before hopping on calls
What you’re saying
Some of the most popular phrases on Zoom:
- 71% have said, “You’re on mute”
- 57% have said, “Can everyone see my screen?”
- 21% have said, “Next slide, please!”
Check out our recent enhanced slide control update that can help take care of that last one!
What you’re doing
In the past year on Zoom:
- 75% of users say they wave at the end of their meetings
- 73% have attended happy-hour drinks or a game night
- 34% have attended a fitness or cooking class
Where you’re Zooming from
Not at your desk? These are some of the most popular places you’re taking meetings:
- 42% meet from bed
- 21% meet while walking/jogging
- 11% use Zoom on public transport
Your top backgrounds
We asked about your favorite types of virtual backgrounds. Here’s what you said:
- Outdoor landscapes (26%)
- Blurred background (25%)
- Business/company background (20%)
Check out our virtual background library to download background images to use in your next meeting!
What’s happening behind the scenes
And here are some things happening on (and off) camera:
- 43% cleaned only the part of the room visible on camera
- 43% of parents had their kid show up during a meeting
- 39% private side-chatted with a friend or colleague to make them laugh
- 36% had a pet show up during a meeting
READ MORE:
- Zoom’s new gender-inclusive feature
- Zoom to acquire Kites GmbH to enhance machine translation capabilities
- Zoom plans for a hybrid return to the workplace
- Asana launches app for Zoom to reimagine meetings
And thank you ALL for your support over the past year! Zoom wouldn’t be where we are today without you — our loyal users who wave at the end of meetings, who have made “Zoom casual” an accepted dress code, and who continue to reliably connect with colleagues, family, and friends everywhere.
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