Disembodied Conduct

In the following paper we disettss some findings of recent research concerning the organisation of video mediated communication in collaborative work in a dispersed, multimedia office environment. Based on the detailed, naturalistic analysis of video-recordings of individuals collaborating on various tasks through audio-visual links, we describe the ways in which the technology transforms nonverbal and verbal conduct, introducing certain asymmetries into the social interaction between users. It is argued that such communicative asymmetries may facilitate, rather than hinder, certain forms of collaborative work and provide a foundation for the emergence of new forms of sociability in the work place.