Virtual Reality and Real Emotionality - the Nature of Video Chat Encounters

This paper examines the interaction process between users of video chat software and its groups, focusing on how members organize their relations and interactions over web-based face-to-face encounters. Through content analysis this paper unveils the impact of the moving image in the interactions of CMC users, proving that high-speed Internet connections, together with the erosion of boundaries between real and virtual, influence the creation of strong social connections within virtual worlds where video chat prevails. Through interviews and participant observation this research work scrutinizes the applications and uses of technology as instrument to promote the creation of densely formed groups of interaction.