We’ve all been there- we are looking for a solution to a problem and suddenly we are looking through YouTube to try and find the solution. There are all kinds of people out there that make videos on how to solve your problem. A lot of this information can be hard to trust, but where do you draw the line?

I find it hard to trust people who make videos where you download programs to help solve your issues, related to your computer. I also rarely trust people that have a great deal of dislikes on their video, or if their video is very old and I’m looking for solutions to more modern problems.

I trust the solution to the degree that I can watch them attempt it themselves.

If I'm trying to fix something I own that they also own I want to watch them take it apart and trouble shoot the problem and then put it back together. That makes me believe they have at least a working knowledge of the problem.

Other than that I don't trust anyone on the internet. Anyone can make a youtube channel and pretend to know stuff. That's about half the channels out there.

I only looked at a youtube video for help one time. It was for instructions on how to tie a tie I never done it, but I was able to do it after watching the video.

I would not trust any video that has external links on it. It usually involves signing up to something or trying to scam people. I know people like to promote on there but there are LOTS of scammers there trying to lure in people with their solutions on "how to get rich" or whatever.

The like / dislike ratio is usually a pretty good sign if the solution they recommend is good or not. I also agree with geeogree that if they can show you that they can do it, rather than just telling you how to do it, it makes me much more inclined to trust them.

For me, this would be based on what I'm looking for. Most of the time though I'm not going to follow their directions. It's not because I don't trust them, but it's more because the stuff they say I need in order to pull it off is either expensive or difficult to find.

For example the last one I watched said I needed to get one of tvose bird toys where its beak dropps down into water and it keeps going up and down.

When I search the internet/YouTube for the solution to a problem, I take a look at the views of the video and how many likes and dislikes it has. If the number of dislikes is anywhere remotely near the number of likes, then I usually stay away from it. Sometimes a quick glance at the comments will tell me whether or not the video is useful or worth the time. 

As others have said, I prefer that the person/source be able to show me how to do something rather than give me a list of steps on how to do it. Of course, the source I turn to for information also depends on the complexity of the problem I'm trying to solve. A thorough YouTube video might succeed in showing me how to disassemble a computer where a simple how-to would fail. The complexity of the problem and the learning style of the person fixing it all factor into deciding the best place to find information. Personally though, I think more trust and reputability is established if the person/source is able to show me exactly how to fix or solve the problem I have.

It honestly depends on the YouTube professional, the like/dislike ratio, and the comments. Due to the way YouTube works, unless it's a super unpopular video, there's bound to be SOMEONE in the comments pointing it out if the information is wrong or poorly presented or anything else, and you can also bet that there will be someone to point out the issues in the comment pointing issues out if the comment is incorrect, too.

You also just have to use your own judgement - for example, I ended up checking out a YouTube video at one point that included someone reviewing a game they claimed was broken, when it turned out they just couldn't play it properly and blamed their inability to play the game on the game itself. There's even issues sometimes where they end up getting faulty equipment and then assume that it's a problem with all devices of that type and not just with the one they received. People in the comment section pointed both of these issues out pretty well, and I noticed them too.

Then, of course, there's some people where you should try to take what they say with a grain of salt. LinusTechTips is one of those people, where he has ludicrous amounts of money to spend on extremely high-end equipment just to see how far he can go with computing stuff, but he's not a good judge for some products - in particular, he was sent a prototype of the GPD Win 2, a neat little computer that I really enjoyed using, and he reviewed it like he expected it to have a GTX 1080 in it, expressing disappointment that it struggled with brand-new games at high settings and also underestimating the device's emulation performance, insisting that it was only strong enough for Gamecube and showing off PS2 emulation with improper settings as what the device was capable of.

I am a skeptic. I question everything. Even if they're so-called professionals, I only take in what makes sense to me. I do give consideration to other things, but I wait until more evidence presents itself to believe it. I don't take what they say at face value.

I always look at bigger channels first. They can't get too popular if all their solution videos are dangerous or viruses right? 

And yeah the whole "show us doing it from start to finish is important as well. I don't like videos cropping things out because who knows what happened behind the scenes.

Like / dislike ratio is a good and easy tell if there exists a problem within the video.

I go by multiple sources, I go by..


1. The Like/Dislike ratio
If the video has a ton of Dislikes, then more in likely that I don't trust the YouTuber, but if he/she has a ton of Likes, then I would trust the video.

2. Relevance..
If I want to trust a YouTuber, it must be on what I am looking for, I don't want to expect a Super Smash Bros Ultimate gameplay footage, and end up watching a video about someone making tacos.

3. The Comments.
Kinda something similar to the whole Like/Dislike ratio, I also go by the comments as well, and some people has comments disabled, which if that's the case, I always go by the Like/Dislike ratio.

When it comes to information on YouTube, I gravitate towards channels with a sizable fan base. The method behind this is, if they spread incorrect information, someone will likely call them out in the comments. If they do this often enough, they usually won't have as many subscribers, so at a certain size, most channels are reliable.

The second thing to look at, is the type of fans they attract. If the channel is dedicated specifically toward something like hate speech, you'll be able to tell by the watchers comments.

Lastly, if the video isn't a showcase of the information being presented, it's reassuring when they cite their sources.

It depends but most of the time they don't have credentials to back up whatever they are saying which has led to some scandals from some youtubers. Most of these are harmless though and they usually try to genuinely help you so I would probably say that you shouldn't 100% trust what they are saying but don't exactly shut them down before even hearing them out first.