Do people just not use the YouTube subscription feed?
I consistently hear people on YouTube complain that the subscribe button doesn't do anything for viewers, now that channel notifications are controlled by the bell. But it does do something: it puts the videos from that channel in your subscription feed, which is readily accessible on all versions of YouTube. So why do people act like it doesn't exist? I think it's super convenient, especially if you're subscribed to a ton of channels and don't want your notifications feed flooded with new videos.
Have an extension just to automatically redirect to my subscription page the moment i type in the youtube homepage. I haven't seen the youtube front page in almost a decade and it is so worth it.
My interaction with YouTube is pretty much the search bar at the top. I generally only go to YouTube when there is something specific that I want to watch/listen to: a specific song or video, etc. So there's little reason for me to subscribe to anything.