They don't provide a fungible service. There's nobody else providing the same service. It's ok to be unhappy about a service you're getting and still using the service, especially when there's no alternative. TikTok is certainly no help.

There are two components here, the video streaming/ content database has no equivalent peer for sure, however the general app UX has plenty of alternatives and is pretty fungible.

One can consume Youtube, without shoddy recommendations, annoying shorts or intrusive ads if you wish. Most of the peers are legal and comply with YT policy as well.

Are there YT alternatives for TV/PS5? That's my primary consumption way, I don't watch YT on my computer.

> I'm quite serious - this isn't a snarky response

No, you are being quite snarky. It's clear OP wants to discovery content and wants to be suggested stuff. Telling them to stop using it without suggestion ANYTHING even remotely close to a substitute isn't a solution. It's snark.

But youtube simply doesn't have a decent recovery and/or recommendation system. What do you want to do ?

Totally agree. This is the standard HN response that is frustrating, because it completely ignores the fact that _the user wants to use youtube, there is no viable alternative, and they are annoyed with a specific feature.

This is the equivalent to "don't like how Windows handles X? Just use Linux bro!

Words have meaning, and "snark" isn't just "giving someone a response that absolutely does not fulfill their request."

Snark is very much about tone, and it is absolutely possible to give a response like the GP with no snark whatsoever. If they give their answer with absolute sincerity, it may be rude, and it may be unhelpful, and it may even be arrogant (it may not—those are all very context-dependent)—but none of those things make it snarky.