Meeting by text or video-chat: Effects on confidence and performance

Abstract How does the way people first interact affect communicative effectiveness? Does it matter if you meet someone via video-chat first or via text first? In Study 1, attitudes towards three common communication media were surveyed. In general, respondents preferred face-to-face interactions and messaging platforms over phone calls. In Study 2, participants first met via either video-chat or messaging, and then switched to the other modality. Dyads who met first via text performed worse on an anagram task than those who met first via video. However, those who met first via text were more confident in their performance. How people first get to know each other impacts how they feel about their conversations and how effectively they work together.