Earlier quoted context omitted.
How does that help with YT's network effects?
Though I can see the oversimplifation the parent post did, they have a point. What are YouTube's network effects? Discoverability and deliverability. You can overcome the deliverability challenge with a CDN of your choosing. The discoverability issue can be worked out by good SEO and POSSE[0] principles. Yeah, it's not the same, but you own your media. Freedom costs money. You can't/Don't want to pay? be subjected to…
I would argue that YT's network effect is producers, consumers, and content, which are in a feedback loop: Users default to youtube, because it has the most content. It has the most content because producers upload there. Producers upload there because it's where the users are. You can spend money on either the producer or consumer side, but it doesn't break the cycle.