Preference for self-registering in video call openings

Abstract

This study employs Conversation Analysis (CA) to examine the opening sequences of personal video calls, with the focus being on how participants register visible referents shown on the screen. The participants call joint attention to various visible referents, such as their faces, bodies, and movements as they relate to the visibility of their headshots. The analysis reveals that the participants orient toward their own as opposed to their interlocutor's departure from a normative headshot arrangement in distinct ways, and demonstrates that there is a structural preference for self-registering. The participants register and account for their own departures from a headshot arrangement and possible visibility issues with preferred design – the earliest moment at which the registering action can be relevantly performed – while they withhold from requesting an account of their interlocutor's departure and visibility issues relative to the earliest relevant moment in the interaction. The findings suggest that the participants orient toward promoting affiliation as they work to establish and maintain a joint talking-head arrangement during openings. This study extends the understanding of openings, particularly in the context of video-mediated interaction (VMI), and the preference organization of sequence-initiating actions.