Youtube is not to blame at all. Sure, their algorythm sucks, but it hasn't been based on likes in a long time. It's based on minutes watched. Even if it were like-based, begging for likes and subs in the first 50 seconds of a video does NOT make me want to watch the video. Seeing a homeless guy in the street beg for change the instant I get within his panhandling radius doesn't make me want to give him money either. People would also argue for the homeless man that he 'needs to beg' in order to survive, sure, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to it. So yea, Youtube's algorythms ask for these things (likes, comments, subs, etc), but it's a content creator's job to make people want to do those things with unique content, not clickbait, and begging. They need to make something people [i]want[/i] to subscribe to. They're like those apps that lock content until you've rated the app positively, then you see the reviews. "I'm only here so I can see what the app has to offer. 5 stars"