Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?

Abstract

This article asks whether, and when, participants benefit from seeing each other's faces in computer-mediated communication. Although new technologies make it relatively easy to exchange images over the Internet, our formal understanding of their impacts is not clear. Some theories suggest that the more one can see of one's partners, the better one will like them. Others suggest that long-term virtual team members may like each other better than would those who use face-to-face interaction. The dynamic underlying this latter effect may also pertain to the presentation of realistic images compared with idealized virtual perceptions. A field experiment evaluated the timing of physical image presentations for members of short-term and long-term virtual, international groups. Results indicate that in new, unacquainted teams, seeing one's partner promotes affection and social attraction, but in long-term online groups, the same type of photograph dampens affinity.