Tag: personal pronouns

Posted on

How to Share Your Pronouns on Zoom

3x3 grid of various faces representing different ethnicities, ages, and genders, with different preferred pronouns

Have you updated your Zoom client lately? No? You should!

Why?

Wither version 5.7.0, Zoom has added new options for sharing your personal pronouns.

This new feature adds a dedicated text field on the profile page where you can type in your preferred pronouns and a drop-down menu with sharing controls for your pronouns:  always share, never share, or have Zoom ask before every meeting if pronouns should be displayed.

Pronouns will appear in parentheses next to people’s names in Zoom meetings and will also be visible under people’s names on their profile cards in the Zoom desktop client and mobile app.

screenshot of Zoom to show where pronouns will appear

“In introducing the Pronouns feature, we hope this will help everyone feel better able to express themselves and respectfully address others, which ultimately leads to a stronger culture of connectivity and an improved communications experience,” Zoom wrote in its announcement.

Check out Adding and sharing your pronouns in the Zoom Help Center to get started. But first, you’ll want to update your Zoom to version 5.7.0!

Have questions? Need assistance? We got you! Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 (HELP) or email help@wlu.edu.

Posted on

NEW! Opt in to Display Personal Pronouns in Canvas

All users can choose personal pronouns in their Canvas profiles. Pronouns in Canvas display in locations such as:

  • Comment Fields
  • Discussions
  • Inbox
  • People Page (Course and Groups)
  • User Navigation Menu
  • User Profile Page
  • User Settings Page

The default is “None” and users can opt in to displaying a pronoun in Account > Settings. Available pronouns include:

  • He/Him
  • She/Her
  • They/Them

Here’s how:

  1. While logged in to Canvas, click Account in the global navigation.
  2. Click on the Settings link.
  3. Click the Edit Settings button (on the right side of the page)
  4. Select the desired pronouns from the drop-down menu.
  5. Click the Update Settings button.

[must log in with W&L credentials]

Questions? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 or email help@wlu.edu.

And if you’re wondering … 

What are Personal Pronouns?

Pronouns are used on a regular basis to refer to people without using their name and imply one’s gender (he, she, they, etc.). Pronouns are one of the many ways we define our identities. 

But why do Personal Pronouns Matter?

You can’t/shouldn’t assume someone’s pronouns by their appearance or name. Referring to someone by the wrong pronoun can be damaging, making the person feel disrespected, invalidated, and/or dysphoric. Correctly using someone’s personal pronoun shows respect for their identities and helps foster an inclusive community.