I get that it started for free with less intrusive ads, but YouTube has had a huge impact on the way we all share and consume information. Understanding how much money it takes to run a service with the technology needed to provide high definition videos on a site that is up 99.9999999% of the time, I have no issue paying for a service that has changed my life in many positive ways. Now I do hate price gouging like everyone else, but it’s inescapable from gas & groceries to all streaming platforms.
I mean, yeah, trans folk being brigaded makes sense - I’m surprised and disappointed that it’s a major deciding factor on an area of the web like Lemmy which is generally (at least) a bit more accepting. If I was trans I’d probably wind my neck in if I were on 9gg, Re**it, 4chn because you’re unlikely to feel better after interacting there - which is a pity. Still think it’s a bit weird having upvotes only though; but I guess there has to be some mechanism to seperate the wheat from the chaff.