I really have trouble lending credence to this criticism of "XYZ YouTube circle is such a *clique*" because whenever you ask people to elaborate, it seems like they are just describing the concept of Having Friends

Y'know, you'll hear "these YouTubers are so cliquey because they'll do each other favours by voice acting in one another's videos and showing up on one another's streams and replying to one another's posts" and it's kind of like.... what you're describing is called "friendship"

I don't think this is unique to "Breadtube" (or "the Nebula clique", as people who realize it's now gauche to say breadtube call it), I think people who are in similar circles for extended periods of time, online or offline, in any job or hobby, just tend to start talking and sometimes getting along