The cyber study companion phenomenon: mediated companionship and perceived learning experiences in study with me viewing

The “study with me” (SWM) videos could be an indicator of companionship while studying alone. In this study, the linkages between SWM videos use, light connection presence, parasocial experience, perceived loneliness alleviation related to learning-related loneliness, learning motivation, and learning persistence were examined using a survey of 244 experienced viewers. The organization of hypotheses was motivated by the conceptual framework informed by the literature but it is neither a systematically derived nor a process theory. PLS-SEM was used as the principal methodology of hypothesisoriented linkage analysis. Directional analysis by DirectLiNGAM, RCD, nonrecursive SEM, machine learning, and fsQCA was used for exploratory analyses of the same data set but not as validation of the findings. Linkage uncertainty still holds for CP-PSI and LON-MOT, and fsQCA analysis depends on calibration. The parasocial scale contains both perceived interaction and accumulated familiarity, and the light connection measure consists of two items but both scales suffer from high validity problems. The findings describe the associations between perceived learning experiences, without proving loneliness reduction, relationship formation, causal mechanisms, or video effectiveness.