So, given AI is destroying YT, if you’re any sort of a creator at all, even if you just have some random posts from years ago that you uploaded with no intention of getting popular, you really should move your stuff to PeerTube, ideally on a self-hosted instance if you have the hardware to spare, while you still can, because things are only going to get worse for YT.
Even Odysee is a decent alternative if you want more traction, but PeerTube is more ideal as an alternative platform due to having the ability to self-host an instance there and have complete control of your content and presence down to owning the infrastructure you’re posting on.
You’re not wrong, though if I didn’t like the people running the local library, where else do I go for book lending?
Ideally, video creators would just host on their own website (remember those) and maybe let viewers pipe the video through a frontend of their choosing. That’s a big leap to ask of your audience though, and even bigger for a non technical creator.
I’ve seen some of them using Patreon to share videos with paying fans, sometimes exclusively, but with YouTube having the larger slice of the audience pie, they continue to upload to the platform.
When I think about why people might meet you with vitriol for proposing they stop using YouTube, it may be that they interpret that suggestion as you telling them not to watch the creators they enjoy. Bit of a logical fallacy there, but an appreciable one given YouTube’s monopoly on small scale video content.
At least with physical books, for example, you can just take them home to read and no one will randomly yank them away from you, unlike both YT and also DRM-ridden e-book stores like Kindle.
Hell, if you straight-up buy physical books, they’re yours to do as you please with.
Also…
The library analogy may not be prefect but I figured my point was clear in that you’re allowed to look through all the books for free despite not owning them, and the librarians can remove any book at any time for any reason.
Just because there aren’t alternatives, isn’t really an excuse to endure abuse.
It’s not an excuse, but it is a reason. It’s not like YouTube is required for living.
Should people living in an area served by only one electricity provider disconnect their service and just go without if the company pulls an abusive maneuver?
Most people don’t even consider alternatives to the status quo. For the few that do consider pros and cons of YouTube, the pros of the platform are winning. So long as that’s where the creators are posting videos, YouTube is in a position to keep winning.