Discoverability is a major problem for PeerTube, as it is for pretty much every fedi platform. Even if there WAS content on PeerTube, it’s basically impossible to find.

Because humans don’t think the way you do. You think “well if everyone just did the thing I like, then the thing I like would work”.

Meanwhile, each individual person is a highly complex series of thoughts, emotions, and opinions that change with time. And that’s just 1 person. There are BILLIONS of people on this planet. Each one unique. Each one thinking their own set of thoughts.

But the majority just go with whatever has the least resistance. Youtube is established. Youtube is the default content provider. Therefore it doesn’t matter if there’s a better option. This one requires no effort on their part to find content.

Peertube is decentralized. Which means it has no way to ever formulate a plan to gain popularity, or even plan things. You run your own instance, host your own content, and deal with your own issues.

But what if someone else hosts their own instance with offensive content? Can’t shut them down. They host their own content. There is no overseeing board to enforce rules.

And theres no way to make money either. The top youtubers don’t see youtube as a hobby. They see it as a job. Now imagine going to your job, and your boss tells you that they’re switching platforms, and this new platform has no money to pay you. Would you stay?

So you need a coordinated effort, with no plan for profit, on a service that needs to be built up from the ground up, for an audience that doesn’t exist yet.

Forget “why not improve peertube?” the real question is “what motivation would anyone have to do so?”