First impressions matter a great deal. Traditional networking guides focus on everything from your smile to the strength of your handshake. But what happens when your first impression is over Zoom? A new study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin compares first impressions over Zoom versus first impressions in-person. Good news for Zoom users: As long as your audio and sound quality are good, there’s very little difference between a first impression online versus in person.

How the studies were done

The researchers conducted three sets of studies. In the first, 306 undergraduates filled out a personality survey and then came into the lab in groups of four to eight. At the lab they were told to interact with all the other students in the room, one-on-one, for two minutes and get to know each other.

Afterwards, the students filled out personality surveys on the people they’d met. In the next two studies, over 300 undergraduates were given the same instructions, only they met on Zoom instead of face-to-face. (Participants who had met each other before were excluded.) Participants also rated the audio and video quality of the Zoom.

What the research found

The researchers found that participants were able to assess other people’s personalities when they met on Zoom with the same degree of accuracy as meeting in person. In addition, participants found their peers just as likable on Zoom versus in person.

However, worse audio and video quality was associated with lower ability to gauge someone’s personality. Participants on Zooms with bad audio and video also found their fellow participants less likable. The researchers speculated this might be because lags lead to frustration with an interaction, or because people with high quality audio and sound may also be high status.

Regardless, they noted: “[Computer] screens may offer a sufficiently transparent and rose-colored window into another’s personality, but even minor audio-video glitches may blur that window, clouding impression formation.”