Electronic groups are not as dominated by the amount of talk generated by the higher status participants. But participants get less ongoing feedback in body language, and consequently, do not exhibit as much conventional behavior. Participants are polite with each other, and take more extreme positions. Further, electronic communicants do not see symbols of the social status of a meetings' participants, and consequently are less constrained by them. We find this argument interesting, but not completely convincing.
Blank paper provides no more social cues than do computer screens.
But people often embellish paper and screens with clues about their status and orientations. As a discussion continues, people learn about other's perceptions. One of the reasons electronic meeting may take longer than face to face meetings is because people talk faster than they can type. Kiesler and Sproull do a superb job of helping us understand how reduced social cues alter the behavior of groups and their decisions. The exploration of cues can help educate people who find that the traditional cues of their position are absent in their email interaction.