The phenomenon of online study rooms in the days of COVID-19

Access to physical study rooms to libraries were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic declaration. The mandatory confinement and growth experienced on streaming platforms such as Twitch and Discord generated the proliferation of online study rooms. This article presents an exploratory descriptive study as a contribution to the literature on study rooms on streaming platforms. The results reveal that (i) most users discovered online study rooms through their social networks and the increase in users has been progressive since the beginning of the pandemic; (ii) studying is the main activity participants perform during these live transmissions; (iii) survey participants indicated that their productivity, motivation, and concentration increases when using online study rooms. Education is constantly evolving; therefore, the characterization and analysis of this new phenomenon can contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning processes in the face of a pandemic and post-pandemic landscape.