Why are we not counting financial reasons? Yeah, it’s a number both creators and advertisers looking to strike a direct advertising/sponsorship deal can use as an easy point of reference, which cannot readily be modified by the creator.

But to your point, the site is borderline social media nowadays when you consider all the features.

Bragging rights for sure. Many channels are parasocial relationships, and that number matters a lot to both the creator and the viewers.

It’s also mildly informational. If I see a completely out-of-whack suggestion in my feed, but it has a billion views, suddenly I know why it’s in my feed.

There are probably other reasons. I remember there was ongoing reporting about a race between two channels on YouTube racing to have… I dunno, the first video with a billion views or something. The number of video views for Gangnam Style was something everyone was talking about.

Plus, it’s nice to have. That’s reason enough imo.