Are public discourses valid sources?

Question

I thought I remembered seeing a post about this somewhere on the meta site, but I can't seem to find it using the search function. So I'm sorry if this is a duplicate.

I'd like to know whether we can cite discourses/speeches on Youtube that discuss a certain text. Many of these offer good commentary that is useful for supplementing answers. For instance, the speaker Dushyanth Sridhar has several talks where he explains and analyses scripture and slokas. He is the disciple from a long line of gurus and teachers, so seems to be very well-versed in the canon. Since he generally references the lines as he explains them, I'd say he's a reliable source (correct me if I'm wrong).

But where would I go from there? In a meta post, Pandya wrote about citing the works of 'modern' acharyas:

We should prefer well-known and/or official websites for citing works/saying of Acharyas/Swami/Saints. For example Belur Math for Works of Swami Vivekananda and Sringeri and Kamakoti for Adi Shankaracharya. Similarly reputed websites for Ramanujacharya and other Acharyas/Swami/Saint.

That's useful, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Any random person can upload something to the Internet, and the Hinduism community has decided that blog posts aren't to be cited as sources, as anyone can write anything on a blog. The same is true of videos, of course, so where is the cutoff? I expect that, to a certain extent, intuition works (if a person is on a stage, they're more likely to be credible, if someone is recording from their bedroom, perhaps not), but I'd appreciate a more formal distinction of that line. A list of criteria for decision-making would be helpful; so would a list of which speakers can be considered credible.

As for referencing these, I assume that if the speaker gives the verse, that would (obviously) be part of what's cited. On the other, if a speaker is talking about a folk retelling (which is less likely to be written down), would linking the video/timestamp would be enough?

Answer 1

Do you have any example to share here? If yes, then please provide it so that we can get better understanding and produce better response. If no, then dare to cite something and we're here to handle it! Haha

Many of these offer good commentary that is useful for supplementing answers.....where he explains and analyses scripture and slokas......Since he generally references the lines as he explains them, I'd say he's a reliable source (correct me if I'm wrong).

Nice. If someone is taking references of scriptural verses and providing commentary on it, then it would be acceptable. However, instead of just copying someone's words, We encourage users to do the same thing i.e take reference of verses and explain the context in your own words. This will improve answerers' knowledge also.

A list of criteria for decision-making would be helpful; so would a list of which speakers can be considered credible.

Well, we do not have such list and making such list would be subjective I think, also we are unable to prejudge the authenticity of every personalities as discussed here. Anyway, you can try quoting them, reputed and well accepted may work and others may not. Useful related post: Who all are authority or qualified to post an authoritative opinion on religion, spirituality and Hindu Dharma?

would linking the video/timestamp would be enough?

We expect users to put some efforts to have good and quality answers on the site and hence we discourage link-only/one-line answers. You can add links in your answers but somewhat elaboration would be more useful.