> Maybe it's not quite click-bait, but it's less genuine and more formulaic than their original work. A bit more sensational. Videos are reaching for reasons to exist, since the author needs to keep pumping them out.

I've come to accept that this is what many viewers want. They're more interesting in seeing their familiar personalities talk on camera than in the details of what they're doing.

At the risk of downvotes given the audience, this is how I feel whenever I've tried to watch Linus Tech Tips videos. I have some friends who watch every LTT video when it comes out and love the brand, but I can't make it through a single LTT video because there's so little subject matter. The few videos I watched also had some glaring oversights and borderline misinfo. I think the audience for those videos is people who like seeing the LTT crew have fun, do some activities, and talk. The subject matter of the video is secondary for them.

I see a lot of YouTube channels going the same direction: They realize the content they're discussing is secondary to the fact that they're in front of the camera doing something. The cooking channels know that most viewers aren't going to be cooking the dish. The DIY channels know that most viewers don't care about the code or engineering as much as seeing personalities goof around on screen.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this type of content, though. One of my friends says he handles his work better with a constant stream of YouTube videos in the background, so he semi-watches more YouTube than anyone I know. I do appreciate the channels that focus on the content and subject matter instead of becoming content factories, though.