"Nearly 2,000 people called for the termination of a New York City professor after she reportedly fell asleep during an anti-racist meeting held on Zoom." https://www.newsweek.com/petition-fire-nyc-professor-accused-sleeping-during-anti-racist-meeting-gathers-2000-signatures-1518056
"I was not asleep as is implied at any point during the meeting," she told Campus Reform, a higher education website. She added, "The photo used was taken without permission when I was looking down or briefly resting my Zoom-weary eyes.
So 2,000 people want a professor fired for briefly looking downwards during a Zoom call? Alright.
The reason I always took this stuff seriously and didn't laugh it off is that a good number of people who signed this petition will soon be running major corporations, media, and probably even have roles in the government. They're elites.
It's possible they will mature, but maturity doesn't come naturally with age it is imposed by social institutions, and right now people who think like this are told their thinking is healthy and productive.
Whenever I share something about one of these panics someone chimes in saying why are you focused on this. Which is funny, because that's what I think when I read stories about people doing things like this. Why are they focused on harassing a professor out of a job?