My opinion about the recent activities box is that it has so much
unneeded repetitive info... for example:

For every activity it begins CHANNELNAME has uploaded...
channelname has favorited:
channelname has rated:
etc.

Way too much information NOBODY actually needs. I am already on that
channel, why do i need the name over and over again?

Second, the beauty of having a 'recently rated' box is it gave viewers
a little insight into who the person/artist is (beyond their videos)
without telling every little thing a person does. The comments and
ratings were nice when they were separated, a person could choose both
or neither. Now - one box - all mucked up with a bunch of unnecessary
wording.

Lastly, in general - the changes made - including  videos and
favorites box layout changes, the new "stars" with the nasty white
outline and less vibrant red, the time display on top of the already
small thumbnail, etc.. none of these changes really give us any more
information while at the same time using more screen space and losing
the aesthetically pleasing, artistic character of what used to be
rather reductionist.

IN OTHER WORDS you have taken something that had been rather simple
and neat and complicated it without adding any new information and at
the same time made it rather unpleasing to the eye.