Side pockets can be overused by many players because most people see the ball is easier to pocket but don't realize the restrictions on position these balls carry.
If you're shooting a ball in the side from any angle other than straight in you are very limited. You are either going up table or down table. Beyond that, the cue ball is a long way from hitting a rail which means side spin won't do much to change that movement from the cue ball. In other words, you'd better get the angle you want. Draw and follow can help with your direction a little bit, more so as you are more full on the object ball, less on thin cuts. But they can't change which end of the table you are travelling to very easily.
Contrast that to a corner pocket. Now top spin lets you move to one end of the table, draw to the other. If the ball is near the side rail you have a huge margin of error to get on that ball (you can get on it going into the side rail or bouncing back out, with brakes off the second rail). You can also send the cue ball into the side rail to unlock side spin very quickly to further change the direction of the cue ball.
It's hard to discuss without diagrams and examples. Look, the nice part about side pockets is they are easy to make. If you know you're going to get a good angle on them, or they are really close to the side to allow tons of cheating the pocket and flexibility, they are often best. But as that ball starts getting further from the side or thinner into the side your angle becomes more and more important and your flexibility becomes lower and lower. They can be right, but corners tend to be more flexible.
Buddy grew up on 7' tables and stated that the biggest mistake big table players make when going to a bar table is playing the sides too much. On a 7' pocketing gets easier where angles become more important, so it favors sides more and more. For straight shooters on generous pockets corners are king. Tough equipment with a good lead ball or easy next ball and the sides are quite all right.
