So I do a regular Zoom session with a group of writers. Zoom has a share screen function, which, I guess, just captures video card output and shares that with attendees. Today I was looking at a shared screen - and spotted a tiny fruit fly crawling around. So I reached out and flicked at it, only to have my finger pass right over because it was actually pixels n' stuff!!!!

Bear in mind that the other attendees are a bunch of middle-aged elderly (must be honest) ladees, to whom Zoom is a kind of magic. Not fair, but basically there's no hoaxing involved.

WTF?

Sounds like a bug.

I'll set them up....

Reminds me of the time I think Andy Black had termites living inside his monitor.  

It is very odd. I know that various different captures and overlays, mainly from webcams are going on, in order to present participants alongside the shared screen, but I still can't think what happened. If a fly, even a tiny one got onto a camera lens, I'd expect it to a) appear huge and b) be on the feed/overlay of whoever's camera it was.

An insect *inside* your monitor does actually seem plausible...

Found out what it was. Feel a bit daft.

Elderly lady writer who was using her daughter's laptop. Daughter has animated cursor. A little fly. 

Them thunderbugs get into everything.

Hahaha. To be fair, I don't think I would've guessed that in a million years.

That sounds very early Internet days

Much like those signatures that were so popular once. You know, where people demanded at least half a screen of blinking, flashing animated gifs.