Phil, I'm sorry that your experiences thus far with the forum have not been as warm as you'd like. I will attempt to explain what has been said that you see as being erroneous and as accusations so that we can move on hopefully without sour feelings and you will continue to contribute to the forum. It is important to note that while you claim no expertise in meteorology (your words, not mine), there are members of the forum that are meteorological experts. While you want to bring your expertise to the table, they are bringing theirs as well.
When you posit something as being factual when it is only opinion I do feel that there's a lack of intelligence occurring.
There actually has been quite a bit of facts in this thread among the opinion, so let's break it down. First, let's look at Ryan.
Assuming Ryan's self-labeling as a "avid weather enthusiast" on his YT page is accurate and there's nothing more to it, then he is
not a meteorologist. The definition of what is a meteorologist varies widely depending on the source, but as an employed, degreed meteorologist, I feel the
Meteorologist Wikipedia page most accurately defines the trade, especially when it comes to the education and training involved. Seeing as anyone can forecast, what technically makes a forecaster a forecaster is a little more ambiguous. Simply, I feel that if you forecast, you are a forecaster. There are some great forecasters out there that have no formal education or training in meteorology. However, just because you provide a forecast and can call yourself a forecaster does not mean you are any good at it (even if you are degreed), and those who do not know what they're doing can cause more harm than good. What defines a good forecast/forecaster can
only be determined by verification statistics and the assessment of those who are well versed in the field of meteorology and forecasting. For those who are not versed in meteorology or forecasting, it can be hard to determine forecast quality, as the whole reason they are seeking the information in the first place is because they can not produce it themselves. There of course is nothing wrong with that - we all can't be experts at everything.
Employed meteorologists who provide forecasts are held to some degree of standard for their forecast. This can range from feedback from their customers to verification statistics that mathematically compare their forecast to reality. Because they must answer to these customers and face the numbers, forecasts are carefully crafted, words and phrasing are chosen with care, and uncertainty is addressed. That is why you will not often see a severe weather outbreak predicted by the SPC 7 days out, or a blizzard at a similar time range by the NWS. There are no standards, rules, or accountability for those who post to social media platforms, and this rears its ugly head often when some of these individuals post raw model data showing apocalyptical snow fall amounts 1.5 weeks out, or a tornado outbreak to end all tornado outbreaks 7 days out. Those who are employed meteorologists could never get away with that without receiving major backlash and repercussions. The individuals who do post that material make employed meteorologists' lives difficult because then we are forced to address something that's likely not going to come to fruition in addition to it giving the trade a bit of a black eye. I'm not saying that Ryan is one of those people, but at the very least the words and phrases I can see he uses on his page are meant for hype/click-bait and are something that you will likely never see come from an official source.
Additionally, there will always be local sources for critical, life-saving weather information, as that is the job of your local meteorologist. There are also many fail-safes to ensure that you get official weather information. In addition to what has already been said, the concern with these unofficial sources is that they have no responsibility to provide information at any point in time. If people become solely dependent upon them for critical information, but then they disappear or decide not to post, people's safety could be in jeopardy. All of this is why comments in this thread, some by folks with meteorological expertise, have been skeptical or negative toward Ryan. It is not to say Ryan is any of these things or will become any of these things, but it is a concern with any of these types of sources. It is at least promising that you say he refers his viewers back to official sources.
As for this...
Yet within a few posts of my entrance posting on something I do know something of I find myself essentially under attack for things I've neither said or did by people who admittedly have little to no knowledge of the matter yet they believe they are right regardless.
You compared Ryan's forecasts to those of the SPC, which is not a balanced comparison. Ryan's forecasts have no verification and no formal standard of measure. SPC forecasts are statistically verified through different means and calibrated. Weather models regularly produce impactful weather, from tornado outbreaks to blizzards, at lead times of 5+ days. As has been pointed out, these rarely occur as they appear at that lead time, and SPC/NWS/local employed forecasters know this, which is why it is rare for them to issue a forecast for such an event at that lead time. However, it can certainly be your opinion that Ryan's forecasts are more
useful to you than SPC's, and no one can argue with you on that. SPC's forecasts are meant for high-end users like those in the NWS, other government agencies/partners, and local meteorologists.
Building on that, SPC/NWS/local meteorologists do not "make money" off of weather as you said. That implies that additional money comes in when the weather becomes active, and that is not the case. SPC/NWS/local meteorologists are salary and get paid a flat amount regardless of what weather occurs. Folks like Ryan only have something to post about if the weather is active, and in this case, posts make money, so he does make money off the weather. That may seem pedantic, but there is a difference, which is why SPC/NWS meteorologists jumped in to tell you so
.
Again, there are people who are employed and degreed meteorologists who provide forecasts for a living that have commented in this thread. They have seen this topic come up prior and see this type of thing on a daily basis. While they by no means serve as an end all be all or final word in the forum, it should be considered before assessing that people here may "have little to no knowledge of the matter". Welcome to Stormtrack, and happy posting!
In my life as a financial professional, it was only relatively recently that I even mentioned chasing to business contacts. I found that it was actually a pretty good personal branding thing - people remembered it for sure. They would often ask about it if we hadn’t seen each other for a while, although usually in an ignorant manner - for example, asking in January, “Chase any tornados lately?” Which I suppose is better than what I sometimes get - “Chase any hurricanes in the Midwest lately?” 
But at least it was a conversation starter at professional networking events, and definitely a differentiator for me when I was in a market-facing business development role and personal branding mattered more than when in an “inside“ role. Always a tough balance to figure out exactly how much detail to get into, and I have inadvertently crossed the line into glazed-eye territory numerous times…
