I’ve Googled things like “How to look younger in Zoom,” “How to look better on Zoom,” and “How do I get the kitten filter for Zoom.” I’ve moved myself farther away from the screen to see if it might make my head look more to scale with the other participants. I’ve tried the soft focus filter. I’ve tried Zooming in a darkened room. I’ve tried switching to Google Meet to see if that environment was more face friendly. And I still can’t find the option to remove myself from the grid.
If nothing else, Zoom keeps me honest. I notice if my ears get red from drinking too much wine. I can tell when I’m talking too much because it causes that awkward pause when I try to interrupt someone else. I don’t snack while on Zoom because it makes all those chins look even worse. And I have only to remember my distorted head in the grid when I am considering that extra serving of pasta.
I am fortunate that I don’t have a lot of meetings on Zoom, and when I do, I usually just turn the camera off and my fifteen year old (and proportional) head shot appears in my place. I looked good (and proportional) 15 years ago.