I think YouTube's recommendation algorithms are complicit in this, and I can imagine an alternative system preventing the divide between popular and unpopular c

I think YouTube's recommendation algorithms are complicit in this, and I can imagine an alternative system preventing the divide between popular and unpopular content. Currently if you watch one video your recommendation feed gets flooded with videos from the same channel, which creates a positive feedback effect for big channels. But I guess if the incentive for being a successful YouTube celebrity wasn't so great there would be fewer people trying to do it.