At the same time, a lot of the most famous YouTubers/etc are also deeply formulaic. They copy the same trends, use the same formats, and post the same kind of videos.

Gaming YouTubers flock to the same game at the same time or just play the ones that get big views like minecraft/etc, cooking youtubers are all doing “viral remakes” or “rate these 45 types of chicken nugget” or “eat the menu” videos/etc.

There are always solid people doing their own thing, but the social media zeitgeist is just recycled, low effort, high engagement garbage, just like netflix.