I don't know if anyone else has had this moment with them. I don't have anything against the majority of them, in fact back in the day I supported the GamerGate crowd quite a bit because back in the day you really didn't have that many options and they were doing something genuinely brave by sticking it to the left and risk cancellation but even the right wingers can't really claim their lives are going to be totally ruined because there are so many alt-tech options out there. Really they're fast outing themselves as youtube and twitter addicts and when something happens it's often revolving around that platform and nothing else.
I just can't watch it anymore and have been getting this way quite a bit with them over time. Especially when half their content even when it's a different topics is them bitching about youtube policy and mirroring the very same video to an alt-tech site which just shows they're being lazy. Sometimes they do put up alt-tech exclusives, however they often only do it unless they have absolutely no other choice and will censor themselves.
I get more value these days out of political commentary reading what you guys have to post ( Yes I know, blatant pandering :P ) but really any person can do what they do now thanks to alt-tech. Alternatively I've also found myself far more interested in watching some autist ramble on about a subject they're specialised in for 30 minutes than bother with any of the old youtubers I used to watch. The smart ones have figured this out and moved on but there's a stubborn contingent of them that insist on political commentary until death and it's clearly not working.
It's probably political fatigue to a degree, but I felt this way about television and trending pages. Some of my favourite content watching now is actually cooking and history channels and it's funny how they're not endlessly bitching about youtube content policy every video and just get on with it which does make you feel like they're using their positions as the unmentionables a bit opportunistically. I also find it's even the same with gaming commentary, I don't really see much point in these guys anymore and more often now they seem to be posting up click-bait to maintain their viewership. The way people were trying to rant about Baldur's Gate 3's sexual content rather than talk about the fucking game is a classic case in point but most people have seen my rants on that before.
Ironically, I get more quality from people who weren't part of gamergate but know of it or looked at it after the fact like your Robert Barnes or Clownfish types. Technically Arch is post gamergate as he got hit after the initial shitstorm same with the Quatering though I don't watch him much.
A lot of the guys from the initial gg days have fallen off or moved on, the fallen off can be because they got addicted to the attention and when it started to dry up because people got to know the enemy and so knew who to avoid, they couldn't handle it and started either going too crazy to try and maintain their relevancy.
Then you have those who's exposure to gg made them realise how shit the systems truly us and set up shifting their focus to be more political and cultural like your Sagon with his Lotus Eaters and these types. It also helps that because they shifted to broader political and cultural focus you get more of a historical and philosophical background with them.
Really, it's just some haven't adapted to the change in times and so got left behind or boring in their content. If you want to see someone who was easily able to adapt to the times, look at the most subscribed individual YouTubers like Pewdiepie or Mr Beast, then compare them to your once great but fallen off YouTubers. To be a successful entertainer, you need to be able to adapt with the times or be left behind.
Lotus Eaters is a sort of interesting one but I agree with you generally, I haven't really checked out their site or anything that much. Their podcast content has become unwatchable for me and I've tried checking it out every now and then because of all the issues mentioned in the OP. I feel like they definitely need to put on a second channel that focuses more on history or culture that tries to do something different and they'd definitely get more of a following.
They seem pretty stuck in a rut though and I can't stand their bitching about youtube because it's like they do it in almost every video. Content creators need to put up or shut up now, alternatives exist and you either admit you're a youtube shill that's just mad they're not getting any exposure because youtube won't let you or get yourself on alt-tech and make a success of it because it is possible.
I'd much rather watch a video by Steve1989MREInfo ramble on about a specific food ration these days than watch another political/cultural commentator bitch about how youtube is treating them unfairly lol. I feel like Sargon has squandered an opportunity and he could have properly gotten himself invested in history or something for his content but it all looks kind of meh to me these days what he's doing.
Most of that stuff on history is on their website like their introspection series is on their own website. Some of it filters down to YouTube but all lot their YouTube content is filtered down compared to their website since they own their website and YouTube seems to be focusing on them.
The issue is alternatives are available but YouTube is STILL the one with the biggest audience. If you just go alternate then you'll lose a good portion of your audience, so the current best method is water down your YouTube content but say 'if you want my unfiltered content, go to my Rumble/patreon etc' because until people get sick enough of bland political takes to use alts more, expect watered and bland on YouTube for the time being.
That's what people keep responding with, but at the same time they're admitting they're being part of the problem rather than any kind of change. I also have a lot of suspicions about how much big tech is being bumped up by inactive and bot accounts on the numbers front despite their claims.
Well look at the mainstream alternatives for certain media content, Twitch seems to be fucking themselves over and TikTok's creator pay rates is AWFUL so no matter the bias and bone headed decisions of YouTube, it's still better to water it down on there but build a following that can follow you elsewhere.
The true competition I can see for YouTube is not any of the alternatives, ironically it's Twitter/X, if Elon does go through making it into a multimedia, everything platform but with a focus on legal speech, it can definitely force YouTube to change through competition.