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`Study Broadcast` gains popularity

Posted December. 16, 2013 01:51,   

한국어

“Let’s enter Seoul National University at the top of the class, slap the president in the face. A broadcast of study encouraging your willingness to study.”

A college prep student identified by his internet ID “Eong-x” posted an advertisement soliciting “viewers of study broadcast” in an online community on November 30, three days after the results of the 2014 college entrance exam were released. This person who identified himself as a student preparing for the college entrance exam for the fifth time encouraged people’s participating by saying, “Let’s study from 6 in the morning to 12 at night, slap the president (of SNU) by scoring the highest points in the exam and enter the university on full scholarship (meaning to enter the college honorably with the highest exam score.)” The program run by this student has been gaining great popularity with accumulated viewers of 160,000 as of Sunday.

A “study broadcast” is just to broadcast a student studying in silence in real time on a peer-to-peer online broadcasting service such as Afreeca TV. However, for many students who prepare for a college entrance exam next year, it is considered a new way to strengthen self-discipline and motivate oneself. Although it is only about a month after this year’s college entrance exam, about ten “study broadcast” with titles such as “Study Broadcast, 330 days to SAT” were on air on Sunday.

The broadcast operators usually make a notice of target study hours, put a stopwatch on the desk and ask the viewers to watch “voluntarily.” The operators and viewers sometimes post their study hours by the date on the bulletin board and have the so-called “study hours battle.” Those who did not study even for a day are severely reprimanded by the others. Some people post messages criticizing themselves to create an academic atmosphere.

If an operator did not study even for a day, the bulletin board would be overrun with criticizing comments from viewers. “Eong-x” posted last Thursday an apology that says, “I am sorry for not studying for the past few days. Please understand that this is a transition period to form a habit of studying. Now I’ll study harder,” because he took a break for a few days. It is an implicit rule that the operators of “study broadcast” do not rerun the program and only broadcast in real time. This is to eliminate the concern that operators may record they study and deceive people that it is a live broadcast.

People preparing for national examinations, such as the bar exam and civil service exam, and those preparing to get a job also use this kind of program. They form a study group and televise themselves through a web camera to watch one another online. Members who do not meet the daily target of study hours or are absent from or late for the gathering get penalty points.

Experts analyze that such a phenomenon occurs because people take the “study broadcast” as a measure for psychological safety. Gwak Geum-ju, a professor of the Psychology Department at Seoul National University, said, “A deviant behavior in cyber space cannot be caught when studying alone, so (people) try to control themselves by using the online broadcast as a safety measure,” adding, “Students can encourage one other by the thought that ‘I am not the only one who is studying,’ but what’s more important is one’s willingness to study.”