A perfectly arranged desk. Handwritten notes with immaculate lettering. Pastel highlighters lined up by colour. A steaming cup of coffee beside a carefully planned timetable. Somewhere in the frame, a student is studying, or at least appears to be. Welcome to the world of ‘studygrams’ and ‘studytubers’ where even preparing for an examination has acquired an aesthetic of its own!
Studygram Boom!
“Watching study-related content on instagram and Youtube can create what I call the illusion of productivity.” says Dr. Madhumitha Ezhil Kumar, Founder: The Screenfree Parent Movement. She explains that children may feel motivated while watching study-with-me videos, productivity hacks or educational reels, but feeling productive does not necessarily translate into actual learning.
According to her, these platforms can turn studying into a passive activity, with children spending more time watching others study than engaging with their own lessons. She says, “What begins as a five-minute search for a study tip
can quickly spiral into an hour of scrolling, eating into the very time meant for learning.”
Study & Content
Studygrams and studytubers also reflect a wider shift in how young people present their ambitions. Academic preparation, once largely private, can now become part of an online identity. The desk, stationery, revision method and daily routine are no longer merely tools; they are also elements of a personal brand.
“I started a studygram because dental school felt very isolating and I couldn’t find content that showed what BDS actually looks like: clinicals, viva preps, and the ongoing chaos.” says Murari Ananya Sridhar, BDS (intern) from Bengaluru.
What began as a way to document her routine and stay accountable has since become a rewarding experience. She adds that creating content alongside preparing for her finals has also taught her discipline.
Speaking about how much of her actual study routine makes it to social media, Ananya admits that there is some curation involved, as everyone’s feed is a highlight reel, including hers. While her posts reflect her real routine, she says they do not capture the 40 minutes she spends scrolling before finally opening a book. However, she tries to keep her content as close to her actual routine as possible, because that is what makes it useful to her followers.
Routine, not a Benchmark!
Ananya often receives messages from students wondering how she manages to study for eight hours a day. She clarifies that she does not manage that every day. However, a routine that works for one person may not work for another. She reminds her followers to treat her routine as a reference rather than a benchmark.
On study-with-me videos, she believes they can genuinely help some students focus through the effect of body doubling, where watching someone else work encourages them to stay on task. However, she cautions that spending more time watching these videos or searching for the “perfect” one can become procrastination in disguise. Her advice is to use them as a timer, put the phone away and get down to studying.
Psyche Behind the Appeal
“The appeal lies in the combination of motivation and social connection, and the desire to be part of something bigger,” says Riddhi Doshi Patel, a Certified Child Psychologist, Parenting Counsellor & Corporate Trainer. She explains that adolescents, in particular, tend to connect with others going through similar experiences, making them feel less alone and more motivated to pursue their goals.
Riddhi also points to the concept of “observational learning” wherein children pick up behaviours by watching others. “When children see their peers studying with discipline and consistency, they feel encouraged to adopt similar habits and become part of that culture,” she says.
However, Riddhi cautions that this sense of belonging can also give way to social comparison. Students may begin by looking for study tips but eventually find themselves comparing not just their academic abilities, but also their stationery, study hours, daily routines and lifestyles with those of the people they follow. She stresses that there is a fine line between drawing inspiration from someone else’s journey and measuring one’s own worth against it.
A Loop of Procrastination!
What begins as a search for motivation can easily become another reason to put off studying. Students may open Instagram for revision tips, only to find themselves scrolling through one reel after another.
“It turns into procrastination when preparing to study takes precedence over actually studying,” says Riddhi Doshi Patel. She points to students getting caught up in repeatedly reorganising their desks to make it look more aesthetic or endlessly watching motivational reels.
Ishika Nair, a MBA aspirant says that it is addictive. “Instead of inspiring me to study, I was hooked to the carefully curated study room interiors, coffee mug, clothes and following of the influencer. It is very distracting. Finally, I stopped following him,” she says.
Beyond the Aesthetic
Studygrams and studytubers can offer motivation and a sense of community, but students must recognise when inspiration turns into distraction. The goal is to find what genuinely works for them. After all, productivity is not about looking studious for the camera, but about how much one actually learns when the screen goes dark!
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
