Businesses that rely on user-provided content plus network effects are squatting on a natural monopoly that doesn't belong to them. YouTube wants to show me ads

Businesses that rely on user-provided content plus network effects are squatting on a natural monopoly that doesn't belong to them. YouTube wants to show me ads or charge me a monthly fee, and in exchange they pay creators a pittance for the right to distribute content that YouTube is not in any way responsible for making. What would replace YouTube if it didn't exist? Well, PeerTube gives an example of one possible direction, Discord (or IRC) another. YouTube's continued existence prevents any better alternatives from developing. It's squatting on the conceptual space for "where I go to watch short videos" and acting as a middle-man between me and creators, then using its monopoly over that connection to shaft us both.