Videoconferencing as a social process: an explication of its multimodal, adaptable, virtual, and interactive dimensions

Videoconferencing has evolved into a major shift in collaboration, far beyond its early theoretical discussions in the 20th century. However, the scholarly understanding of videoconferencing remains fragmented across disciplines and anchored in early conceptualizations of audio-video transmission and remote access, and not all its characteristics have equal relevance in the current environment. This creates a gap in defining its current capabilities which span multiple domains, including technology, communication, information studies, medicine, and engineering. This paper explicates videoconferencing as a social process rather than just a technology tool, and identifies its four key dimensions: multimodality, adaptability, virtuality, and interactivity. These dimensions were synthesized from both academic literature, and trends and definitions from key industry players. This study contributes towards the growing conversation on virtual tools and remote communication, and proposes dimensions that warrant contextual emphasis and are resilient to technological upgrades and disruptions of the future.