□ Our reporter Zhao Li
Qin Ya, a senior user of the online self-study room from Beijing, recently complained to the reporter of the "Rule of Law Daily": "What has become of the self-study room! Some are like game dressing software, which sell skins for profit; some are like video software, which from time to time Indecent messages pop up; some are like social software, attracting traffic by making friends.”
"At first I used the self-study room software because it created a clean and timely learning environment, but now this type of software has changed." Qin Ya was very uncomfortable with the changes in the online study room, and had no choice but to delete such software. clean.
In recent years, online self-study room apps that create a sense of learning atmosphere by turning on the multi-person video mode, pointing the camera at oneself and books, live broadcasting the learning status anytime, anywhere, have become increasingly popular, especially during the winter and summer vacations.
However, the reporter's investigation found that some online study room apps have been complained by many users due to vulgar information, obvious socialization, advertising marketing and other reasons.
People in the industry believe that the online study room is a derivative of the "Internet + Education" model. Because students have psychological needs for attention and communication, this new business format has been born.
If the online study room app that serves the "learning atmosphere" wants to survive, it still needs to work hard on the pain points of users.
Perhaps the combination with AR technology in the future can make the "learning atmosphere" more real without excessive entertainment and socialization.
At the same time, in order to effectively solve the problem of minors being addicted to the Internet, it is recommended that the platform launch a youth model that is "useful, easy to use and love to use", so that the network environment of minors is clear and pure.
Deviate from the original intention of software design
Social features are on the rise
"I chose the online self-study room at the beginning because it was too boring to study alone, and I felt that it would be more motivated to study with someone, with a sense of atmosphere and a certain supervision effect." Tianjin, who has used the online self-study room app for more than two years User Lin Lu said.
Like Lin Lu, many people choose to use the online study room because of the "sense of atmosphere" and "supervisory effect".
But nowadays, the learning function of some online self-study room apps has been weakened, and even become a "show place" for some people who don't study. Concentration.
There are also users complaining that merchants continue to add new functions in order to make profits and expand the audience. The new functions deviate from the original intention of the learning software, resulting in "a mixture of fish and dragons" and "smoke" in the App, and abandonment has become a common phenomenon.
The reporter entered multiple online self-study room apps and found that some apps will set up a "personal image" for users, and a series of social functions such as dressing and chatting are derived from the "personal image".
In the "activity area" set up by an online self-study room app, users can simulate entering bars, restaurants and other scenes, and enter chat rooms to chat with other users.
In the chat room, users exchange learning time for free chat time, or pay for virtual food such as "starry sky beer" and "octopus balls" by recharging tokens in exchange for longer chat time.
These chat rooms with bars and restaurants as scenes are also established and operated by users.
Users can choose the capacity of the chat room, and purchase goods from the "food factory" for sale in the chat room.
On this basis, the online self-study room app has transformed into a small business management game that is all the rage among primary and middle school students.
The child of Liu Dan, a resident of Xicheng District, Beijing, is in junior high school. The first thing he does after waking up every morning is to turn on his tablet computer, click on the online study room app, and chat with classmates and friends on the grounds of learning, and communicate about his study room Business experience.
"Such an addictive setting is not conducive to the growth of minors. In addition, just like spending money to buy skins in games, some online self-study rooms need to spend money to change the 'personal image'. There are not a few children who pretend to spend tens or hundreds of yuan." Teacher Liu from Beijing No. 8 Middle School said.
The reporter entered the chat room of a self-study room App and found that the users are generally younger.
A user who wrote "preparing for the high school entrance examination" in the profile column entered the chat room and left a message "Do you have a date, do you have a private chat" to greet another user of the opposite sex whose profile is still in junior high school.
"Most of the good-looking clothes need to be recharged, and it is easy to form comparisons." "This is a learning software, but many people chat about star chasing and games, and it has become a place to post photos and find cp." "I used to come here to learn , and gradually became friends." Many users left messages in the comment area of this self-study room app.
"I just want to learn through this kind of software, and I don't need to change the game, but the functions launched by these software are too fancy." Liu Ye is the group owner of an online self-study community. She has tried to use a variety of online self-study In the end, I chose to uninstall all kinds of self-study apps, "because these apps have deviated from my original intention of focusing on learning."
Liu Tian, who is the owner of an online self-study community, is also "very dissatisfied" with this.
In his view, social elements are what many Internet platforms are pursuing, and more and more platforms are trying their best to move closer to social networking. Although doing so is conducive to the rapid growth of users and enhance the activity and stickiness of users, it is not suitable for online self-study rooms. In terms of self-study room, it is contrary to the needs of self-study room users to pursue quietness, seriousness and concentration, and is not conducive to the long-term healthy development of online self-study room.
Paid supervision is useless
Spending money may be in vain
The reporter noticed that on some social platforms and second-hand commodity trading markets, paid "supervised learning", "devil-style supervised check-in" and "video-supervised self-study room" have gradually emerged, and even developed into an industry with a certain scale-"someone spends money to eat and drink, Someone paid to travel, now you can pay someone to supervise your studies.”
However, the money spent may also be "in vain."
The reporter learned that the price of the mainstream paid video supervision study room currently on the market is about 5 yuan per day. Users can negotiate with the study room operator to pay by the day or monthly supervision. Amount of red envelopes as "rewards".
After paying, the administrator of the self-study room will ask the user about the study plan and schedule, and then invite the user to enter the designated self-study room or related meeting room, and ask the user to turn on the camera for supervision.
However, the effectiveness of paying to join study halls for supervision is debated.
The degree of supervision by the administrator, whether there are clear rules in the study room, and the degree of self-discipline of the user all affect the value for money.
The reporter randomly found a merchant who provided supervised self-study on a second-hand commodity trading platform.
On the product details page, this self-study room provides services such as "timely reminders to join the study according to the personal study plan, full supervision, and reminders at any time to play mobile phone slips".
After the reporter paid 5 yuan, the administrator added the reporter's contact information.
After asking about the study schedule of the day, the reporter was invited by the other party to enter the online video study room.
In the online self-study room, the reporter found that the number of people in the self-study room peaked at 60 people, most of the users turned on the camera, and some users only had the video background in the video screen, and the user himself was not in the screen.
The administrator has no clear requirements on the placement of the camera, and most users choose to point the camera at the table, exposing only the learning materials and hands.
During the one-day self-study experience, the reporter's camera was placed against the light.
The brightness of the video screen is very low, and it is impossible to clearly see the behavior of the reporter in the screen. You can only vaguely see the books and materials on the desktop, but the administrator did not remind the reporter to change the camera angle.
On the way, the reporter answered several calls, some of which lasted a long time, and the administrator did not inquire or supervise them.
Only when the camera was turned off due to insufficient battery power did the administrator prompt the reporter to turn on the camera.
At 4:00 p.m. on the same day, the reporter applied to the administrator to leave the study room temporarily for dinner, and agreed to return in half an hour.
Afterwards, the reporter did not return to the study room at the appointed time, and did not receive a reminder from the administrator until 9:00 p.m. that day.
Obviously, this is not in line with the administrator's commitment to "remind members to study in a timely manner according to the individual study plan" when purchasing the supervision service.
Qin Ya also noticed this loophole. She had paid to be supervised for many times, but she found that as long as she sat in front of the video during the learning process, no matter what she did, she would not be reminded by the administrator.
According to Qin Ya, there are still many "disappeared users" in the paid supervision community. Even if they have paid for the monthly supervision service, some people do not update their daily learning plan after only a few days, and they do not know how to use it. Participating in self-study activities, the administrator's reminder lags behind, and the effect is minimal.
Uninvited guests break in at any time
Sexual harassment while studying
According to the reporter's understanding, some online study room users will use the Lianmai video learning function, and after this function is turned on, harassment incidents frequently occur.
"I met a BT (abnormal) just now, reopen one... BT go away!" At 11:00 pm on December 5, 2022, on the homepage of an online self-study room app that features a video linking function, user Jia Lin will I set the title of my self-study room to this title, and then turned on the camera to continue the self-study that was interrupted just now.
Jia Lin is a senior high school student in Beijing. She often uses this online self-study room app during online classes at home.
This app stipulates that after users enter, they can choose to actively create a self-study room and wait for others to apply for Lianmai, or apply to join a self-study room that is in progress and study with other users.
The access conditions of the study room are very simple. As long as the "owner" who created the study room agrees to use the microphone, users who join the study room can turn on the camera and participate in the video self-study in the study room.
"Someone came into the self-study room to see me for a while, and then applied to be on the microphone." Jia Lin recalled, "After I agreed, he pointed the camera at his private parts."
Jia Lin's experience is not an isolated case.
In the "study circle" where all users can speak and communicate in this online self-study room app, user Xiaogao posted a screenshot of harassment encountered during self-study with others - also a man's naked lower body.
After being harassed, Xiao Gao and Jia Lin reported to the platform immediately, and the official banned their accounts after verification.
"But as far as I know, this kind of person may be a repeat offender, and after one account is blocked, another number may be registered." Jia Lin said.
In addition, verbal harassment of users with the help of the App's private chat function also occurs from time to time.
"Sister, brother, I am a freshman in high school. If you don't know how, I will tutor you." Zhao Lu, a Jiangsu native, is a senior student. As an active user of the app, she always I can receive such "strange" private messages after Lianmai.
"Some people send me private messages after video chatting with me. Some are communicating normally, and some are harassing me in the name of studying together." Zhao Lu introduced that some people even send me private messages during private chats or video chats with other users. The avatar is set to a photo of male genitalia, and the nickname is also obviously provocative.
"Some time ago, I met such people who harassed me through private chats and videos. After being banned, I opened a new account to continue. I hope the platform can set a password for the study room, and don't let these people destroy the environment of the study room." Often used Li Xiangshui, a Peking University student in the online self-study room.
During the investigation, the reporter noticed that on many self-study room video mic pages, the platform will set a line of small words under the video box as a reminder: "Advocate green and healthy self-study rooms, please strictly abide by them. The platform will conduct 24-hour inspections. Any Violations such as spreading illegal, vulgar, and abusive behaviors will be banned and dealt with."
However, according to many users, under the setting of the function of entering and exiting the online study room at will so that the video can connect to the microphone, "uninvited guests" can still break into the study room at any time, and the problem of harassing students has not been properly resolved.
For this reason, when many users choose to set up an online self-study room in the form of "video-connected mic", they will, like Jia Lin, write in the title or profile column of the self-study room "Get out of pervert" and "Do not enter the stranger". and other words, trying to use this method to build a weak line of defense for their own online study room environment.
Strengthen the supervision of illegal information
Give the user back the choice
Yuan Ningning, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that the chaos in the online study room is actually the manifestation of problems in network governance in the online study room.
These pornographic information, Internet fraud and other harmful content may cause users, especially minors, to suffer a certain degree of infringement, and also bring opportunities for criminals.
"Although the online study room is a virtual platform, both developers and operators should consider the same obligations online and offline. In addition to providing corresponding study space, they are also responsible for maintaining the order of the virtual space and supervising illegal information." Communication University of China Said Wang Sixin, vice president of the School of Political Science and Law.
How can we better protect the rights and interests of users, especially minors?
Yuan Ningning suggested that a set of supervision and protection system including schools, guardians, society, government, and network platforms should be established.
"Some online self-study rooms first use the learning function to attract users, wait until they have a large user group, then develop in the direction of socialization, and finally use advertising or e-commerce to monetize. In this way, the online self-study room forms a complete Closed loop of business monetization.” Wang Ke, an investor who has long been concerned about the direction of education, told reporters that this is the capital market’s expectation for online study rooms, but some old users may not be able to accept this change, but think that online study rooms have changed. , Of course, it is not ruled out that some users like this learning social mode.
In Wang Ke's view, the online self-study room should give users the right to choose, allowing them to choose between a pure learning mode or a social learning mode.
Relevant apps also need to further upgrade their management methods, such as increasing the threshold for users to add friends, and crack down on behaviors such as pornography-related drainage of adding friends, including adding friends through the self-study room user’s check-in and self-study duration requirements, non-long-term self-study users cannot Add or be added as friends, etc.
In addition to technical risk control methods and manual inspection methods, the self-study room also provides an entrance for users to actively report. Users should also enhance their information security awareness and report illegal accounts and behaviors. Once the platform is found and verified, it will be closed immediately.
Comics/Li Xiaojun