An example of a Study-With-Me by iCanStudy on YouTube. August 2025

Study-with-me videos, intended to be a way of tracking accountability in studying for the creator and also a way to motivate others, have flipped the meaning of studying on its head. Studying should be for the benefit of oneself, to prepare for important exams, to absorb the content provided in class, and to experience the joy of learning. However, studying has been transformed into being a performative art rather than intended to actually learn. Students nowadays feel the pressure to “show” themselves as studious and busy to others in order to receive validation and a feeling of self-worth. Moreover, rather than going about achieving this “studious” look by actually studying, many turn to imitating study influencers in hope that by copying them, they will miraculously receive similar results.

Comparison and peer pressure have driven students to feel the need to display their own academic work and effort in order to receive validation from “society” at large. A phenomenon nowadays shows teens relating their “self-value” with how much work they produce, and this correlation can become an unhealthy obsession for the young generation. Relating one’s worth only to academic achievement neglects all other valuable aspects of individuality, and creates a toxic environment for students in which they feel that they are unable to celebrate their individual achievements without being compared to another’s. Now, with the prevalence of trends such as study-with-mes detailing the schedules of “study influencers”, students cannot even enjoy their downtime without being reminded of the constant pressure to perform. While the means behind these trends to provide motivation as role models for the students are honorable, their true impact has sabotaged the intended results.

Moreover, study-with-me videos have posed certain ideas or methods that hold “fool-proof” strategies to earn good grades are no more than simple conventional wisdom, and can be easily proven wrong. Students who are exposed to this kind of mindset may feel as if they must conform to these methods, and attempt to force themselves to operate in such ways that are not efficient for themselves. Everybody learns differently; attempting to force certain methods upon those who do not resonate with them will just result in reduced performance. Students, rather than imitating study influencers, must strive to discover the method of studying that proves most successful for themselves. 

Students at KIS widely voice their criticisms of such “study influencers” as well; many believe that “while study-with-mes are a good way to motivate students to perform well academically, they might pressure students into following certain schedules, which could be not the best fit for them.” (Jane Han, G9). Others also say that while study-with-mes can be a good  resource if used efficiently, most tend to gather the wrong messages from them and end up performing poorly. Rather than trying to imitate study influencers’ methods exactly, as “not everyone’s going to have cute stationery, not everyone’s going to have colored highlighters” (Rachael Park, G9), students should instead learn certain concepts or ideas from those influencers and implement them into their own study methods, which will ensure their success more than anything else.