You are wise! You probably remember the internet of 2000, when you could sign up for a website without a phone number. Hell, you didn't even need an email address. Just a username and password, which you provided upon logging in. Why would your real life persona need to be "verified" in order to read things, rate posts, watch videos, make posts and comments? Yet now it's all about proving you are who you say you are, and about using real first and last names. I remember in 2010 or so when YT began getting shitty. 2012 or so was shadowbanning, and also the start of the "tell us who you are" nonsense, which led to Google+ and the loss of comments unless you had it, and then the removal of Google+ because nobody used or liked it and just had it to make YT comments. Then the 2018 admission of shadowbanning, and the deplatforming of anyone not towing the line. Nightmare.