Studying With Strangers Online (And Why It Works Better Than You Think)
Studying with strangers sounds a bit odd until you remember you've done it your whole life. Every public library, every coffee shop with wifi, every lecture hall at 9am. You sit near people you don't know, you get on with your work, and somehow that helps.
Doing the same thing online is just that, without the commute. The tricky part is finding a place that doesn't feel like a random chat site, or like walking into a stranger's Zoom call.
What it actually feels like
Honestly, a little odd for the first five minutes. You sit down, you see other people studying, and you're not sure what you're supposed to do. The answer is nothing. You open your book and start. That's the whole point.
After a short while you stop noticing them, but you do notice that you're less tempted to pick up your phone. It's the same reason some people work better in a library than at home. A room with other people working in it has a gravity of its own.
Study with others, but not for others
One thing people worry about is having to be social. You don't. Plenty of people never say a word. They sit at a table in the General study hall, work for two hours, and leave. That's a good session.
If you do want to talk, you can. When you sit close to someone, your video can connect, and in the water room and on a private room's balcony there's voice chat for breaks. But in the study halls microphones stay off, so it remains quiet. We made that choice because a "study room" where people chat constantly isn't one.
Finding the right room
The thing that makes studying with other students useful is that they're doing something like what you're doing. Someone prepping for a medical entrance exam does not want to sit next to a group drilling for a history essay. It's not that anyone's rude, it's that the atmosphere is different.
So V.Study Space has a public General hall that's open to anyone, and private rooms for when you want to choose who joins you. You can see how many people are in the hall before you go in. You can join it here once you've signed in.
Staying safe
Fair question, and worth a straight answer. A few habits for any place where you study online with people you don't know:
- Don't share your phone number, home address, school name or social handles unless you've decided to. A first name or a nickname is plenty.
- Keep your camera pointed at your desk, not your bedroom wall full of personal things.
- You can mute anyone, any time. If somebody makes you uncomfortable, mute them and move on.
- If you'd rather not be on camera at all, don't be. Sitting quietly counts.
- Anyone you want to talk to properly can be invited to a private room. That way you pick who joins.
From strangers to a study group
This part happens without anyone planning it. You turn up at 6am for a week, and so does someone else. You nod at each other's characters. One day one of you says hi. A month later you've got a regular slot.
When that happens, the friendliest move is to create a private room and invite them. Pick the number of seats (2, 4 or 6), copy the link, and send it. It's a much lower-pressure invitation than "do you want to be friends?" It's just "I'm studying Thursday, join if you like." We talked about running groups like that in our online group study guide.
A few ways to get more out of it
- Go at the same time each day. You'll start seeing the same faces, which makes it feel like a place.
- Use the timer. Sit down, set 25 minutes, write what you're doing. Done.
- Don't judge a session by how much you talked. Judge it by how much you finished.
- Take real breaks. Step into the water room, chat if you feel like it, then go back.
If you've been searching for a way to study with students online and you've been put off by random video chat sites, this is a better version of the same idea. It's free, and it's in your browser. Create an account and walk in. Our post on co-studying explains why simply being near people helps as much as it does.