Widening the Screen: Embodied Cognition and Audiovisual Online Social Interaction in the Digital Age

Abstract

In the current digital era, Audiovisual online social interaction (AVOI) has become a pervasive form of human interaction. However, it fails to capture the complexity and depth of in-person social interactions. To address this limitation, this essay puts forward a conceptual framework for comprehending and enriching empathy in the virtual realm. Empathy is fundamentally tied to our physical and sensory experiences, and therefore, the paper critically examines and dismisses the Theory of Mind (ToM) model, which reduces empathy to mere mental constructs with inherent limitations. Drawing upon Embodied Cognitive Science (ECS), this paper offers a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of empathy. Furthermore, it demonstrates how ECS provides insights for creating welcoming and inclusive online spaces that foster empathy and understanding.