Social presence refers to the medium's ability to provide group members with a sense of the presence of the communicator. It is through debate, exchanges of ideas, and experiential exercises that we challenge thinking and attitudes. If we remove this rich medium and social presence, it is likely that we lessen the ability to affect attitudinal change. If the source is perceived as attractive or an expert, people are more inclined to change their attitudes. This means that while instructors may be viewed as experts, they still need to be especially sensitive to their image and manner of presentation.
Distance learning has an impact on the presenter's effectiveness.
Message factors refer to specific content and the way that content is presented. This factor looks at the intrinsic arguments and persuasiveness used to convey the message. Medium factors refer to the channel used to transmit the information. In the case of distance learning, this would include the interactive video, e-mail, etc. Again, this argues against the use of distance learning as an effective delivery method for attitudinal change and process-oriented courses.