Here's how content should show up on the recommended sidebars and front page.
If you click like on something.
That's the only thing that should move the needle. If the only thing I ever clicked like on was a single vaporwave video 2 years ago, then my feed and recommended should be entirely vaporwave videos even if I've clicked on 1000 videos in the 2 years since.
If I type up to see what happened to the guy from Linus Tech Tips who trooned out, out of morbid curiosity, and click on Anthony's dead channel, just out of that desire to see a trainwreck, that doesn't mean, youtube, that I'm interested in "the study of trans-ness" or "my coming out story" from other people.
If I click on a leftist video, maybe it's because I want to laugh to myself at the absurd arguments. It doesn't make me a leftist. But if you were to click on a Vaush video out of masochistic self hatred, congratulations, now you're gonna get Destiny pop up in your feed and other woke people.
Again, Youtube, I'll TELL you what I actually like, by doing something I rarely do which is click the like button.
Every Youtube video you click carries with it an instant change to the front page and the recommended. It makes going "do I want to click this retarded crap" not worth it most of the time because you know it's going to influence whatever pops up in your home page. Clicking a video should be seen as meaningless. Only liking a video should tell Youtube, "show more of that".
I like SkyTube, fairly lightweight, can download videos, and the "feed" is literally just the latest videos from your subscriptions in chronological order. No algorithm, no BS.
The downside is very poor playlist functionality and sometimes you have to wait while they fix the tracker after youtube breaks it.
One of my biggest little black pills is that people have entire careers dedicated to making my life more difficult. Schizophrenia diagnosis aside, the amount of time and effort that goes into breaking things so that they are inconvenient enough to get people to give up and us mainstream options is insane. Imagine the heights humanity would reach if our effort wasn't so bogged down.