Abstract
People are increasingly using video calls for high-stakes interactions that once required face-to-face contact, from medical consultations, to job interviews, to court proceedings. Yet, videoconferencing introduces a novel communication issue: minor glitches, or intermittent errors in the transmission of audiovisual information during a virtual interaction. Across five experiments and three supplemental studies using both live and recorded interactions, we show that minor audiovisual glitches during video calls harm interpersonal judgments in consequential life domains (e.g., hiring decisions after a virtual interview or trust in a medical provider after a telehealth visit). Further, two archival datasets from real-world video calls reveal that glitches are associated with both reduced social connection and lower likelihood of being granted criminal parole. We find that audiovisual glitches damage interpersonal judgments because they break the illusion of face-to-face contact (e.g., by distorting faces, misaligning audio and visual cues, making movements appear “choppy”), evoking “uncanniness”—a strange, creepy, or eerie feeling. As the uncanniness of a glitch increases, so does its harm on interpersonal judgments. Further, audiovisual glitches only undermine interpersonal judgments in video calls that simulate face-to-face interaction, demonstrating that the negative effect produced by glitches goes beyond mere disruptiveness, comprehension difficulties, and negative attributions. These findings have critical implications for digital equity. Despite being considered a boon to access, virtual communication may unintentionally perpetuate inequality. As disadvantaged groups have poorer internet connection, they likely experience more glitches, and in turn, worse outcomes in consequential contexts such as health, careers, justice, and social connection.