As virtual meetings have become the "new normal" for millions of people around the world amid the ongoing pandemic, some people have found a creative way to trick others into thinking they're paying attention even when they're not.
A video of a Mexican politician using her photo to quietly sneak out of a Zoom meeting is now being widely circulated on social media.
Valentina Batres Guadarrama, a Congresswoman from Mexico City, was recently caught trying to slip out of an official meeting by using a photo to make it look like she was still in the meeting. The incident occurred on Friday during a virtual congressional meeting.
Caught Using Zoom's Virtual Background Feature
For the unaware, Zoom has a fun feature called virtual background, which essentially allows participants to display an image or video clip as a background during a Zoom call. It also allows users to use their own media files.
Guadarrama used the feature to upload a photo of herself to make it seem like she is still seated. Amused colleagues watched as the Morena party leader attempted to sneak out of the meeting, even when her arm kept jutting into the frame.
The video went viral after Jorge Gavino, of the Democratic Revolution Party, shared a recording of it on Twitter. "Deputy Valentina. And I thought that you were paying a lot of attention to my speech when I realized that that attentive look was a photograph," he wrote, followed by a "exploding head" emoji. Watch the video below:
Guadarrama Says She Was Asking For Technical Help
In her defense, the deputy issued a statement saying that she only used the image as a background while she got up from her seat to request technical assistance at home as she made a mistake due to her "lack of knowledge of digital tools."
"I had a technical error and I acknowledge my inexperience in handling digital tools, but it is by no means a job simulation," she said.
Mexican Politician Caught Topless During Zoom Call
This is not the first time a Mexican lawmaker has been caught in an embarrassing moment on a live Zoom call due to their lack of technological knowledge. In June, a Mexican senator was caught topless during a government Zoom meeting after mistakenly thinking she had turned the camera off.
Martha Lucia Micher, 66, issued an apology saying that she did not realize her camera was on and started changing during the live Zoom call, exposing her upper torso.
