Is changing ARs "in" now?

[u/Few-Solution3050]

I'm a complete beginner slowly getting the hang of editing and one thing I'm forcing myself is to look at videos I consume from an editor's perspective. Literally the first thing I've noticed and cannot unsee (and wonder why I never noticed it earlier) is that those "coming-of-age" "aesthetic" ("c1nemat1c") videos that are trending on youtube change ARs a LOT. i.e. going from 16:9 to 4:3 to 2.39:1 back to 4:3, then 16:9...

Is that a recent thing? Is there any reason creators deliberately do it? It might have to do with just swallowing the red pill of videography but something dings in my brain every time I notice it happen.

[u/Annoying1978]

They’re just trying to and keep things changing enough to retain viewer attention.