I have no clue how YouTube's "suggested videos" works as you scroll through your main page. I know some are based on what you've previously watched, some based on your known interests and subscriptions and I'd guess for non-Premium users, they may well weigh the amount of time spent watching ads and if you've responded to any of them by clicking on them or whatever, to determine what they throw at you next. But sometimes I get stuff that seems like they're just taking a shot in the dark. Or, sometimes, they decide to pull the ol' nostalgia strings. At least for users like me who surely, their AI overlords know, have been loyal fans of their site since the get go.
Do you recognize the guy pictured above? If you do, you might be, like me, one of the nearly OG YouTube adherents. Now in my case, I say nearly since even though I started watching videos on YouTube since its inception, back then (and I'd guess it's the same now) you couldn't comment on videos unless you created an account and I didn't create an account until July 29, 2006. Holy shit, I kid you not, I didn't even realize the coincidence that in three days time it'll be the 20 year anniversary of my YouTube account! Damn! Anyway, the guy shown above was not only one of the first YouTube account holders, he was one of the first contributors, now elaborately called content creators, but back then, just contributors.
His name was Terry Roth aka Zipster and as he attests to in one of his storytime-style vlogs, he was in the first group of 40 YouTube contributors selected, via a personal phone call from pre-Google YouTube execs to be part of their newly-designed Partner Program. Zipster's videos were quite eclectic. Some were simple webcam vlogs of him telling interesting, often salacious anecdotes, others were parodies and skits often as one of his hideous drag personas like Coco Loco, others featured him at what was his "day job" performing as a singer at local nightclubs. Zipster was, to my memory, one of the first, if not only, elder gay vloggers on old YouTube and as such I'm sure played an important role model for many in bolstering their confidence and positive self-image after seeing the way Zipster came through with such humor and in-your-face honesty as a down-to-earth gay man living his life as best he could.
I'm not sure why YouTube recommended one of his videos to me today. It's just the weirdness of their algorithm, I guess. I was subscribed to Zipster for years but that was a long time ago. I'd lost touch. Kinda like he talks about in the video below. Kinda like wondering if people you knew and haven't heard from in a while were just, as he says in this clip "laying dead everywhere and I don't even know about it." BTW, yes, that is the case with Zipster. He died in 2023 and I didn't even know about it.