My friend who is actually into Stranger Things (as opposed to me, who has literally only seen episode one) was explaining conformitygate to me and why she believes it, and I actually agree with her. I thought it was just extreme levels of copium bc a beloved show fell off, but that really doesn't explain any of this. She didn't convince me from any in universe lore perspective, I can't speak on that, but for the real life inconsistencies people have pointed out (not registering the episode as a finale, the vouchers, the movie theater blackout dates, etc).
Also, from a business perspective, Netflix hates churn (when people cancel their subscription after a finale). This is an incredible churn buster, not just for Stranger Things, but also for any future show. It's like they're always going to be saying, "What if this time it's not the actual ending? You better stay subbed one more month just in case. Oh, and while you're here, might as well watch some other shows? Maybe get hooked? Or maybe you'll just forget to cancel."
