Until youtube or google’s algo decides to kill your chanel without much recourse or get nearly 0 visits because the algo expects some kind of engaging formula. These abuses are enough to warrant not ‘posting content’ (I highly dislike this term) on their platforms at all.

But at the same time I understand that a large number of people choose convenience over managing their own hosting.

There's a special place in my heart for people who still do longform YouTube.

Like, say, 2 hours of Battletech lore: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c71x68uWd5k

Or an 8 hour serialization of the early-90s Aliens comics: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3Js5pJZN4Mkl-n7Ktk6h6A...

Because at some point? Do what you love. Screw engagement metrics. People who care will find you.

Youtube is different from the web. You can't just be informative you have to be informative and entertaining.

There are lots of channels that manage that, sometimes it's fun to watch a knowledgable person explain something or review a product purely out of entertainment even if you will never buy it.

If people are informative an audience will find them, if they're entertaining and audience will subscribe to them.

Whatever downsides youtube has for a creator is vastly outmatched by the upsides for most creators.

People 'switched' to youtube instead of writing because everyone wants to be a star (although we call them 'influencer' these days).

Nobody⁺ gets 'famous' writing these days.