Seeing and Being Seen: Webcams, Videoconferencing, and the Experience of Ostracism

Videoconferencing has become a central context for work, teaching, and social interaction, yet the psychological effects of webcam use remain unclear. In particular, different webcam configurations may shape speakers' feelings of connection, exclusion, and self-focused attention in distinct ways. This paper examined how speakers' and audiences' webcam status influences presenters' experiences in videoconferencing. In Study 1 (N=121), participants imagined giving a presentation in four videoconferencing scenarios varying whether the speaker's and audience's webcams were on or off. Participants expected the least favorable experience when their own webcam was on and the audience's webcams were off, reporting greater distress, rejection-related emotions, and disconnection. By contrast, the all-webcams-on condition was associated with the strongest sense of connection and the lowest need threat, although it also elicited higher self-monitoring. Participants also reported asymmetric webcam norms, expecting speakers' webcams to be on and audiences' webcams to be off. Study 2 (N=127) tested these patterns in a live videoconferencing interaction. Here, the most consistent negative pattern emerged when both speaker and audience webcams were off. In this condition, participants reported greater distress and, when audience webcams were off, turning off the speaker's webcam was also associated with higher self-monitoring and lower perceived speech performance. Audience visibility was linked to greater sense of connection. Several other outcomes were not significantly affected. Together, the findings suggest that webcam effects depend on role and context. In imagined scenarios, mutual visibility appeared most beneficial for connection-related outcomes, whereas in live interaction speaker visibility was especially relevant for avoiding the least favorable experience when audience webcams were off. More broadly, the results indicate that webcam use in videoconferencing involves a trade-off between connection and self-focused attention.