Overview: This chapter addresses the differences between computer-mediated communication (CMC) and non-computer-mediated, face-to-face communication (FTFC) with respect to gendered interactions by focusing on the consequences of the absence of visual cues. The conclusion based on the present evidence suggests that gender differences do not increase or decrease in CMC compared to FTFC, but in both modes of communication they mainly occur in settings where stereotypes are evoked. This supports the gender-in-context approach, implying that most differences between men and women in social behavior are evoked in a stereotypic context. The absence of visual cues in CMC has little impact on many gender differences in social interaction, but may affect the way in which men and women communicate emotions.

Overview: This research reviews the promise and the pitfalls of visual cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The first section reviews theories advocating the utility of visual cues in telecommunication. Empirical research consistent with such theories has shown that communicators express preference for multichannel communication, whereas observational results, in contrast, indicate that visual cues often fail to enhance virtual groups' work. The second section extends this paradox by reviewing research that shows when and how visual cues detract from CMC social impressions and evaluations. Alternative uses of visual information, focusing on objects rather than people, show dramatically different effects. Taking into account the persistent preference for multimedia despite its disappointing results, the final section attempts to redirect theories of media selection to include a component about the principle of least effort in media preferences and how visual cues are at the same time easier and inferior to text-based CMC in many settings.

Talking with another individual is still the easiest way to share information, because other people have the ability to see our gestures and facial expressions, listen to our tone of voice and understand what we are trying to communicate.

“Prof. Walther means well but he is not the best instructor.”

“He was not concerned with our retention of information and his presentation of it was poor.”[…]

Overview: The various forms of interpersonal communication that take place on the internet are considered and several questions concerning the efficacy of interpersonal communication over the internet are raised (i.e., whether this form of communication can be compared to actual face-to-face communication).

The technologies for communication over the internet do not always allow access to “kinesic” behaviors through the visual channel or to vocal-intonational modulations of speech through the auditory channel; they therefore cannot count on a wide range of nonverbal signals that are of extreme importance for certain communicative processes. Graphic and linguistic strategies permit internet users to compensate for this lack of communicative signals and render communication via the internet more immediate, natural, spontaneous, and expressive. Videoconference might be an effective means for conveying the sense of presence to interlocutors; it can be used in many different areas: in work (long-distance collaboration and meetings between people in different locations), long-distance education (teleteaching, e-learning), and health care (telemedicine, telehealth, psychotherapy), as well as in legal contexts.

This contribution, finally, analyzes the video-based interactions between individuals belonging to different cultures and evaluates the differences in nonverbal communication in this perspective.

Overview:Starting from an overview of the role of nonverbal channels in computer-mediated communication (CMC), a functional model of nonverbal behavior as a possible framework for future research is introduced. Based on this, several technologies and systems for avatar-based interaction are presented, and their impact on psychological aspects of the communication is discussed. The focus of the chapter lies on the discussion of methodological preconditions for the systematic analysis of avatar-based communication. An avatar-based communication platform is introduced that allows for real-time transmission of gaze, head movements, and gestures in net communication. Different research paradigms are discussed that might lead to a deeper understanding of the function of nonverbal cues in CMC.

Overview: Visual digital devices bring about new ways of managing one's facial expression that consist not of mere amplifications of face-to-face interaction, but rather of sophisticated constructions around different kinds of genre. In our view, these genres are articulated in terms of two main dimensions: the kind of representation of the world included in the message, and senders' social motives with respect to their audience. In terms of the first dimension, representation, we distinguish three levels of representation: visual icons of objects or events (we call this first level “copies”), conventional symbols of concepts (we call this second level “allegories and fictional stories”), and idiosyncratic elicitors of basic psychological processes (we call this third level “affect triggers”). In terms of the second dimension (senders' social motives), we take into account basic types of social interaction such as aggression, attraction, and helping behavior. The intersection of the two dimensions provides a list of genres in the telecommunication of facial information. We discuss these categories, provide some examples of their use, and make some speculations about their future.

Overview:Video-mediated communication is about to become a ubiquitous feature of everyday life. This chapter considers the differences between face-to-face and video-mediated communication in terms of co-presence and considers the implications for the communication of emotion, self-disclosure, and relationship rapport. Following initial consideration of the concepts of physical presence and social presence, we describe recent studies of the effect of presence on the facial communication of emotion. We then delve further into the different social psychological aspects of presence, and present a study that investigated how these various aspects independently impact upon self-disclosure and rapport. We conclude by considering how the absence of co-presence in video-mediated interaction can liberate the communicators from some of the social constraints normally associated with face-to-face interaction, while maintaining others and introducing new constraints specific to the medium.

Overview: How does video mediation influence communication of affective information? In the present chapter, we review the range of possible constraints associated with the video medium and consider their potential impact on transmission and coordination of emotions. In particular, we focus on the effects of transmission delays on interpersonal attunement. Results of a preliminary investigation of this issue are described. In the study, pairs of participants discussed liked and disliked celebrities via a desktop videoconferencing system. In one condition, the system was set up in its normal mode, producing a transmission delay of approximately 200 ms (high delay). In the other condition, transmission was close to instantaneous (low delay). Dependent measures included evaluative ratings of the celebrities and of the other party in the conversation and video-cued momentary codings of the interaction. Participants rated the extent of communication difficulties as greater in the normal than in the low-delay condition, but did not specifically focus on delay itself as the source of the problem. Low-delay pairs also showed greater accuracy and lower bias in their momentary ratings of attunement and involvement over the course of the conversation. Finally, there was greater convergence of affect when participants discussed mutually disliked celebrities, but greater divergence of affect when they were talking about celebrities liked by one party to the conversation but disliked by the other. […]

Overview:Human–computer interaction (HCI) may be significantly improved by incorporating social and emotional processes. Developing appropriate technologies is only one side of the problem. It is also vital to investigate how synthesized emotional information might affect human behavior in the context of information technology. Despite previous suggestions that people treat computers as social actors, we still know relatively little about the possible and supposedly positive effects of utilizing any kind of emotional cues or messages in human–technology interaction. The aim of the present chapter is to provide a theoretical and empirical basis for integrating emotions into the study of HCI. We will first argue and show evidence in favor of the use of virtual emotions in HCI. We will then proceed by studying the possibilities of a computer for analyzing human emotion-related processes and consider some physiological measures used for this purpose in more detail. In this context, we will also briefly describe some new technological prototypes for measuring computer users' behavior. The chapter ends with a discussion summarizing the findings and addressing the advantages of studying emotions in the context of present-day technology.

Overview: This chapter discusses whether various modes of internet communication affect differently socially anxious individuals as compared to nonanxious. It reviews the literature on the relationship between internet use and social adjustment, mainly, social anxiety and loneliness. Next, it develops the reasons why the mainstream modes of communication on the internet, i.e., chats and emails, are appealing to socially anxious and lonely individuals. It also reviews the literature showing that these individuals are indeed presenting different patterns of communication on the internet as compared to nonanxious individuals. Then, it examines whether the introduction of a video-channel in internet communication constitutes a difficulty for socially anxious people. It concludes by suggesting new directions for research at the applied or clinical levels as well as at the fundamental level.

Overview: Human brains are basically social, and use communication mechanisms that have evolved during our evolutionary past. Thus, we suggest that even in communication with and by machines, humans will tend to react socially and use communication mechanisms that are primarily social and embodied. One of these mechanisms is communicative feedback, which refers to unobtrusive (usually short) vocal or bodily expressions, whereby a recipient of information can inform a contributor of information about whether he or she is able and willing to communicate, perceive the information, and understand the information. We will show how feedback can be modeled in virtual agents on facial expressions of a virtual agent or verbot and thus contribute to human–human communication over the internet. We will present a simple model based on a pleasure, arousal, and dominance space, which allows a complex stimulus generation program to be driven with only a few parameters.