Low Engagement As a Deliberate Practice of Remote Participants in Video Meetings

Video meeting research has long reported that technological constraints can lead to low engagement levels of remote participants. Under-reported, however, are the ways in which remote participants can choose their level of engagement, with the technology framing but not determining their social action. This paper presents preliminary research into the engagement practices of experienced video meeting users, which propose that the constraints of remote participation can be used to set personal and group expectations for engagement. Future video meeting systems should include a spectrum of engagement levels for remote meeting participants.