'I turned on my camera and allowed the entire call to see': Student maliciously complies with club rules

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 25, 2024 5:00 PM EST

It might help if this school club was just a tad bit more accomodating. Maybe they'll change their policies after a chat with one student. 

Since the beginning of the 2020s, people have adapted video calling into their everyday lives. For a while, people used it for work and school when we all had to be isolated from each other. But even after the fact, people still love video calls. Facetiming your family is a great way to have a face-to-face conversation that's a little more personal than a phone call. 

At many workplaces, Zooming into a meeting is de rigueur. The days of staying at your office building for a meeting are so over for many employees. Instead, you can put on your coziest sweatpants and a nice shirt and chat with your boss from the comfort of your couch. 

Many students find themselves back in physical classrooms, but teachers can still find ways to incorporate video calls into their students' lives. 

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  • Admittedly, it sounds really great to be able to have a Zoom call for a school club. Before this era, kids had to attend meetings after school that would sometimes only be ten minutes… just enough time to miss the bus home. At least this student was able to hear the meeting as they traveled! 

    Check out the whole story below, then read about one boss who was so quick to initial a paper that he cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

  • 01
    Es DOUTO
    via Surface on Unsplash
  • 02
    On my microphone and camera? Sure! SOC So some background info: I take around 1 hour to reach home from school, and I joined some club which has some weird rules but that's not important to the story today
    via u/woofie_17
  • 03
    On to the story... So my teacher released us late from school, and I had around 15 minutes to get home in order to join the online call (yes we have school but no meeting in my country, weird). I texted the organizers about me having to be late, and we came to the agreement that I would join the call as I walked home.
    via u/woofie_17
  • 04
    When I joined the call, I immediately heard the organizers say "on your camera". Fine. Part 1 of malicious compliance complete. I turned on my camera and allowed the entire call to see the beautiful sky, followed by raindrops slowly falling down.
    via u/woofie_17
  • 05
    But that wasn't even the funniest part. So moving on I got on the public transport (it's a train, which, disclaimer, has really loud announcements and sounds and background noises essentially). For some reason the organizers believed it was an amazing idea to ask someone who is on their way home to turn on their microphone, on public transport. Cue malicious compliance.
    via u/woofie_17
  • 06
    I turned on my microphone and walked closer to the speaker things inside the train, letting the beautiful noises blast into the call and interrupt whoever was speaking. According to one of my friends who were already in the call, almost nothing could be heard by the rest of the people in the call, other than the "Next stop,___"
    via u/woofie_17
  • 07
    The organizers ended up having me turn off my mic and yes that's my malicious compliance. Not as havoc-wreaking as many others in this sub, but hey! it was satisfying
    via u/woofie_17
  • 08
    [deleted] For every Zoom meeting I've been on, etiquette is to "please mute your mic unless you're speaking." It limits the sounds of people breathing onto the mic, sniffling, occasional coughs, background dog barks, etc. Your organizers seem like relative newbies at video conferencing. Your MC probably went a long way toward educating them.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 09
    U_L_Uus That's why "press to talk" options exist
    via u/U_L_Uus
  • 10
    kttykt66755 I don't understand why they would need your mic on if they're not asking you a direct question or something
    via u/kttykt66755
  • 11
    Pet_Tax_Collector. My understanding is that, for kids in school, the camera and mic are on because they want to make sure the kids aren't just watching TV or playing videogames or whatever. As an adult who has to join many a call for things I'm only tangentially related to, I'll absolutely do other work and only pay minor attention while muted if my involvement isn't actually necessary.
    via u/Pet_Tax_Collector
  • 12
    Comfortable_Interest • i had a google hangouts meeting for school a couple weeks ago, and they didn't believe you we're actually in the call unless you had your camera on and microphone on. one kid we heard him mom walk in yelling so he muted himself my teacher lost it. she stopped what she was saying and waited until he unmuted himself again and said "you are so disrespectful" and things of that sort. that was the last time i joined one of those calls and passed the class with a D
    via u/Comfortable_Interest
  • 13
    Franklin2543 I don't think I'd have been able to understand them when they said to mute my mic...
    via u/Franklin2543
  • 14
    yParticle Did at any point they admit what an asinine idea it was to make you join the meeting en route? I hope this wasn't for a school club. 3 Reply Share woofie_17 OP nope they didn't admit HAHA and yes it was a school club
    via u/yParticle

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