Social dynamics can be distorted in video-mediated communication

In Video-Mediated Communication (VMC), cameras are often placed very high. High placement of the camera creates a looking-down perspective toward the target. In video and film production, high camera angle shots are often used to make a person appear weak, short, and submissive. Would a person who was shot with a high camera angle be perceived and treated as being weak, short, and submissive in video-mediated communication? To explore this problem, we designed an experiment that manipulated the camera and monitor settings: the distance of the monitor from the viewer, camera angle and camera-zoom setting. We set up the monitor and camera high in one room and low in another to simulate a person appearing tall was talking to a person appearing short over the video. In the experiment, pairs of participants interacted through a VMC system on a decision-making task—the Arctic Survival Task. Participants completed the ranking of the items they thought they should rescue after a crashed landing in an arctic area, first individually, then collectively through video. Task influence was measured by comparing individual rankings with group rankings. Post-test questionnaires were used to measure the perceived influence, perceived dominance of self and the partner, quality of discussion, and usefulness of audio-video technology. The discussion process was audio and video-taped for power speech and content analyses. We found (1) there was no difference in group performance in experimental conditions of the distance of monitor from the viewer, camera zoom setting and camera angles, (2) the apparently tall person was more influential and was perceived to be more influential in the task when the monitor was placed far away and camera was zoomed-out, (3) both virtually tall and short participants rated themselves more influential than their partners, and (4) apparently tall persons used more arguments and made more decisions in the discussion than did the apparent short persons. The findings, implications and guidelines are discussed.