Qualitative differences between online and face-to-face conversation from the viewpoint of intercorporeality

Abstract

We have seen a rapid increase in opportunities to use online conference system such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In this article the authors aim to clarify the qualitative differences between online and face-to-face conversation in terms of intercorporeality, which means a latent reciprocal relationship between one’s body and the body of the other (Merleau-Ponty, 1960). In interpersonal communications, intercorporeality manifests itself through interactional synchrony and behavior matching in nonverbal communications. We intend to clarify the qualitative differences between the two by comparing and analyzing data from scenes of face-to-face conversation and online conversation. In the former, the process and content are largely influenced by the “field in between” that emerges through embodied interactions among the participants. In the latter, in contrast, online conversations are less constrained by such a field and tend to facilitate the exchange of explicit verbal messages.