The chat function, although useful at times, can also add to participants’ information processing load, especially if the content detracts from the meeting ( Wiederhold, 2020). This is complicated by the fact that during virtual meetings, it is not just others’ faces that draw the attention of participants, but people or things visible in others’ backgrounds as well ( Fosslien & Duffy, 2020). Participants may also experience information overload as they attempt to focus on multiple faces at the same time, all in one-inch boxes that often jump from one position on the screen to another as different individuals speak ( Morris, 2020). This is because the size and proximity of such images can violate our sense of personal space or cause us to subconsciously view them as threatening. Another factor is that the images of others on screen can appear too big and too close, triggering increased brain activity, biochemical changes, and physiological states that are associated with high alert and fight-or-flight ( Morris, 2020).
In a normal face-to-face meeting, participants spend very little time looking directly into the eyes of one another, whereas in a video conference, individuals are typically staring more intensely at one another for the entire meeting ( Strassman, 2020). This exhaustion is due to several factors, one of which is prolonged direct eye gaze ( Bailenson, 2020). For example, many users complain of Zoom fatigue or feeling mentally and physically exhausted by video conferencing ( Fosslien & Duffy, 2020 Strassman, 2020). Yet, for many, the increased use of videoconferencing has been challenging. Furthermore, it is likely that the use of videoconferencing will continue long after the pandemic ends, as Gartner predicts that only 25% of business meetings will take place in-person by 2024 ( Standaert et al., 2021). Other video conferencing platforms, such as Google Meet™ and Microsoft Teams, have also experienced significant increases in daily participants ( Peters, 2020 Thorp-Lancaster, 2020). Zoom, for instance, had 10 million daily meeting participants in December 2019, but by April 2020, that number had risen to over 300 million ( Evans, 2020). One of these changes involves increased use of video conferencing as a means of communicating or holding work meetings. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders have led to significant changes in the way people work.
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