HackerTube.dev

What Would You Do? Bike Theft (White Guy, Black Guy, Pretty Girl)

VladCantSleep · 4.5M views · 2010-05-27 · 4:41

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A hidden-camera social experiment in a park where three people try to steal a bike in the open: a white teenager, a black teenager and a young woman. It records how bystanders react to each.

On Hacker News

Used in threads on bias and social engineering as a vivid example of how bystanders treat different thieves.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2013–2018

Topics

Psychology & human behaviorSocial issues & culture
Search by tags
social experimentbiasbike theftsocial engineeringhidden camera

What people said

SomeCallMeTim · 2016-05 · Strong recommendation

> If you are white and male, for example, then you are seen as privileged because, statistically, white males have more wealth and power. No. If you are white and male, you've experienced more invisible privilege than you realize. [1] It's not about wealth, but it is about power -- power over others. Questions: * White man says that black woman stole something from him. What will happen? * White woman says that black man stole something from her. What will happen? * Black man says that white woman stole something from him. What will happen? * Black woman says that white man stole something from her. What will happen? What were your honest, visceral, reactions to each of these statements? Were they all completely symmetric? I can tell you I've been working on balancing my own feelings about various races, and I can't claim my own thoughts were completely unbiased. And I have been trying for years to purge the bias. There's an awesome video of three college-student-aged in a park. All three are obviously trying to steal a bike. They picked three actors and dressed them roughly equivalently. [2] Watch the video if you want to be shocked, or just read my summary if you can't be bothered: * White Actor: Everyone ignores him or asks him what he's doing. He gives dodgy answers, but people wish him "good luck" or leave the scene. Some say they might have called the police later (when confronted by the camera crew), but they clearly didn't seem to be concerned. * Black Actor: Within s

Read the original HN comment ↗
fleitz · 2013-09 · Recommendation

As always social engineering works far better than tech engineering, watch the guys try and help the girl steal a bike. [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
sangnoir · 2018-04 · Reference

I got the link to the video[1], and I misremembered: multiple people offer to help steal the bike on different occcasions, wtf! 1. [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by VladCantSleep, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources