Personalizing Ambience and Illusionary Presence: How People Use "Study with me" Videos to Create Effective Studying Environments

“Study with me” videos contain footage of people studying for hours, in which social components like conversations or informational content like instructions are absent. Recently, they became increasingly popular on video-sharing platforms. This paper provides the first broad look into what “study with me” videos are and how people use them. We analyzed 30 “study with me” videos and conducted 12 interviews with their viewers to understand their motivation and viewing practices. We identified a three-factor model that explains the mechanism for shaping a satisfactory studying experience in general. One of the factors, a well-suited ambience, was difficult to achieve because of two common challenges: external conditions that prevent studying in study-friendly places and extra cost needed to create a personally desired ambience. We found that the viewers used “study with me” videos to create a personalized ambience at a lower cost, to find controllable peer pressure, and to get emotional support. These findings suggest that the viewers self-regulate their learning through watching “study with me” videos to improve efficiency even when studying alone at home.