YouTube Isn’t As Good a Teacher as You Think

YouTube users have posted countless videos aimed at helping others acquire new skills, from frivolous talents to specialized technical skills. But while many of these videos may be useful, Chicago Booth PhD candidate Michael Kardas and Booth’s Ed O’Brien find that they can also breed overconfidence. Research participants who repeatedly watched YouTube tutorials tended to have more confidence in their ability to perform the skills being demonstrated than those who watched the videos just once—but when put to the test, they were no more adept than those who’d had just a single viewing.