Interestingly, this feature is only two years old.<p>Can you think of another major social networking service without Direct Messaging of some kind?<p>Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Flickr, Snapchat, Tumblr, Pintrest, and the list goes on, they all have DM functionality.<p>That sort of choice is disappointing because it's always nice to be able to contact content creators. Without direct messaging it's more like cable television where you're just there to watch and feedback isn't welcome.<p>Perhaps that's the idea here - YouTube will be the cable television of the Internet era. Obscure channels aren't recommended by the algorithm and the channels YouTube deems most profitable will be suggested.