to be fair, I set up calyx a while ago, back when i was only at the beginning of my privacy journey, and still thought i might need google services. Though I'll absolutely be giving graphene a try when I can!
briar comes with calyxos, and I've been considering it. The shame is I don't message all that much, and mostly use messagers for resources or distribution (can't believe so much support is moving to discord)
possibly the biggest eye opener has been seeing how much the average person knows about computers, it's seriously hard to comprehend that divide (obligatory xkcd; https://xkcd.com/2501/), I think the best we can do is build a community, and give the loved ones in our lives an onboarding experience where we can. learning anything new is intimidating, but through exposure, it can be done, we've just gotta make it worth it.
I'm afraid YouTube is a different beast entirely when it comes to replacing it, so I'm going to have to branch out on what 'alternative' means.
loops.video is a tiktok-esque shortform video service on the fediverse
owncast.online is a federated livestreaming platform, like twitch
funkwhale.audio is the fediverse's answer to music streaming.
I've also heard good things about radiofreefedi.net
and of course you've already heard of peertube.tv
but when it comes to YouTube, absolutely nothing holds a real candle to the variety anf quality of it's content, so you might want to look into alternatives such as Dropout.tv, Nebula, Odyssee (I have heard very bad things about Odyssee, but including for variety), or frontends like Invidious, Freetube, and Newpipe.
Hope this helps :)
PS: I have a post asking for peertube video reccomendations, which might have a comment or two with something of interest.
I'm in the exact same boat. But I kind of realized, if I want to see a bigger fediverse, I'll have to help build it up. As the classic saying goes, you can lead a horse to water; but first there's gotta be water. So thank you for taking up the cause of building this lake :)
I see where you're coming from, historically the internet and large communities tend to foster that kind of aggression. I, for one, will be striving to build a positive environment though, and just maybe, we'll see those fruits lead into a brighter future :). I myself am applying for some moderator positions to help take up that effort!
nice cake