I'll take it one step further. I appears, surely, youtube's code is so refined now, when I am away from youtube for awhile they lure me back by making some older comments of mine visible to some people so likes from others occur. If I were not being shadow-banned, perhaps my comments would be rising up towards the top, can't have that as they are well-aware that I am one who disbelieves every narrative.
I'm only aware of one comment of mine with more than a mere handful of likes. Currently at 3.9K, quoting the scientist in the video ...
"Cats may purr for any number of reasons"
Scientist code for: We weren't able to get a cat to purr to study it
As of Dec 6, 2021, no changes for me, I'm still seeing dislike thumbs-down on youtube (and its count), I can click it and see the increment. They might only be removing it for individuals they don't want clicking dislike? Evidently that would be many of you.
Why am I still allowed? I'll take a guess ...
They like my dislikes since I frequently 'dislike' videos I actually like as a strategy, I do so specifically for truth-tellers that I figure youtube doesn't like, for two reasons:
(1) I write algorithms and thus know it causes pain for YT algorithm writers, going ... crud, the pattern is not as easy as expected so now I have to write another exception/condition. Each one makes their code more complex of course and a little bit less maintainable.
(2) To help protect the content creator from rising to top of the list for getting canceled as the higher the views combined with the ratio of likes/dislikes the more likely humans in the office will be talking about them and drool over dropping the axe.
I'm subscribed to over 200 channels but many are truth-tellers. Others are science/engineering/computing but some are even lefties, and of those, when they are pushing the official narrative bull, sometimes I upvote (the opposite of what I really think).
For 1+ years I've been saving my comments to be able to prove in court some day that I am civil yet often shadow-banned (2.48 MB today). Anyone can sue via the Sherman Antitrust Act etc etc in Federal court for collusion and so on.
(YT likes people trying to viciously tear each other's throats out, good times, but posting intelligent informative content does not serve to create a wonderfully dumb underclass. Yesterday for example, someone had asked how to really understand voltage, was asking for help and my reply was deleted immediately).
I'm only aware of one comment of mine with more than a mere handful of likes. Currently at 3.9K, quoting the scientist in the video ...
"Cats may purr for any number of reasons" Scientist code for: We weren't able to get a cat to purr to study it