Zoom with a View

The internet: It was going to usher in a brave new world of information and understanding, democratizing data and empowering the people. What it turned out to be really good at was distributing pornography, fuelling conspiracies, and electing fascists. (Okay, as we’re all in lockdown, there’s room for discussion on the merits of one of these deliverables.)

Now, as the world imbibes a coronavirus cocktail mixed with equal parts imposed isolation, enervation, and anxiety, the video conferencing app Zoom is our new boss. It’s the ultimate digital tool for staying in touch, even as touching actual digits is number one on the pandemic-prevention naughty list.

It turns out the Zoom conference is something else too: an unsurpassed siege engine for storming the castle that is supposed to be everyone’s home. And it’s a generator of industrial-strength schadenfreude.

Of course, you have to cut certain people some slack — interns, juniors, and...