Why does everything have to be a YouTube video
The answer is that it doesn’t have to be but it’s simpler that way.
A transcript has to be written for a YouTube video essay, and there’s not really a major reason you couldn’t turn your transcript and footage into an article with a series of embedded gifs or graphics. It’s just much simpler for creators to dedicate their time to one medium and not worry about losses in translation or similar issues.
What’s the alternative? Honestly, I want to use something other than YT but I don’t know of any with enough content.
An article? I can absorb information much faster in text form, and I can more easily go back if I missed something