YouTube videos won't make you an expert overnight
New York: Watching YouTube videos, Instagram demos and Facebook tutorials may boost your confidence in performing a task but it probably would not make you an expert overnight, suggests new research.
Social media platforms have made it easy to record, share, and access instructional videos, but merely watching them without practicing the demonstrated skills may not actually improve our ability to perform them, according to the findings published in the journal Psychological Science.
"The more that people watched others, the more they felt they could perform the same skill too - even when their abilities hadn't actually changed for the better," said study author Michael Kardas of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the US.
"Our findings suggest that merely watching others could cause people to attempt skills that they might not be ready or able to perform themselves," Kardas said.
In one online experiment, the researchers assigned 1,003 participants to watch a video, read step-by-step instructions, or merely think about performing the "tablecloth trick," which involves pulling a tablecloth off a table without disturbing the place settings on top.
People who watched the five-second video 20 times were much more confident of their ability to pull off the trick than were those who watched the video once.
However, people who simply read or thought about the trick for an extended period of time did not show this confidence boost.
Those who watched a demo video 20 times estimated that they would score more points than those who saw the video only once -- this high-exposure group also predicted that they would be more likely to hit the bull's-eye and reported that they had learned more technique and improved more after watching the video.
But these perceptions did not line up with reality -- people who watched the video many times scored no better than those who saw it once.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India cricketer Rinku Singh receives underworld threat: Mumbai Crime Branch confirms
Mumbai: Indian cricketer and 2025 Asia Cup champion Rinku Singh has reportedly received a threat from the underworld, according to the Mumbai Crime Branch. The investigation has revealed that Dawood Ibrahim-led D-Company sent multiple ransom demands earlier this year.
Authorities confirmed that between February and April 2025, Rinku’s promotional team received three extortion messages demanding ₹5 crore. Acting on the leads, police arrested two suspects, Mohammed Dilshad and Mohammed Naveed, from the Caribbean. The duo was extradited and handed over to Indian authorities on August 1.
Investigators further discovered that the accused had also demanded ₹10 crore from Zeeshan Siddiqui, son of the late former MLA Baba Siddiqui. During interrogation, one of the arrested suspects reportedly admitted to contacting Rinku Singh’s team for ransom.
Rinku, who hails from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, rose to national prominence after his five consecutive sixes in an IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans. He made his India debut in 2024 and played a decisive role in the 2025 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, hitting the winning runs that secured India’s ninth title.
The left-handed batter, currently representing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has played 54 T20Is for India, amassing 550 runs at a strike rate of 161.77. In the IPL, he has appeared in 58 matches, scoring 1,099 runs, and was part of KKR’s 2024 title-winning squad.
Recently engaged to MP Priya Saroj, Rinku is expected to feature in India’s upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, which includes five T20 Internationals.
Police investigations into the underworld threat are ongoing.
