What kind of crap do you watch on YouTube that manages to taint the entire platform?
I'm not the OP but youtube is tainted for anything other than entertainment and a few select channels like the ones by PBS e.g Space Time.
I can easily find upper graduate university lectures for complex topics. YouTube makes it easy to link first sources unlike other image/video platforms. Also, since they appear on official pages of reputed sources (conference channel, university channel) there is a certain level of reliability irrespective of who the speaker is.
Lastly, search for any popular video on YouTube and you will see just as many 'response' videos. While not intentional, it helps avoid echo chambering as the counter argument is readily available .
Ok, but you understand why someone might be weary that the most common first hit for someone might be an arbitrary youtube video given your premise is living on the channels you've subscribed to.
The bulk of youtube's content is garbage. You have to go sifting through the content over time, suffering through the recommendation engine (or a shortcut - ask friends who've already lived through that nightmare) to find the geese who lay the good eggs.
Are there good YT channels? Yeah. But 9 times out of 10 (or more) when I search for some rando's recommended expert and the first result is a YT video, it's crap. Utter crap.
I nearly choked when my sister-in-law told me a couple years ago about some really convincing anti-vaccine information she had read which made her very nervous. I asked her what she'd heard, and she gave me a link to a YT video by Dr. Shiva. Yes, THAT Dr. Shiva. Ha! I tried to break it to her gently, but I'm pretty sure she still decided he was a credible source of information.