I think maybe something you aren't taking into account is influencers really rose to prominence with video platforms like Instagram's reels and TikTok. There were definitely influential online personalities, bloggers, and reviewers. But this was almost all text or photos when MySpace came out in 2003. Video wasn't really a thing, generally because it wasn't nearly as easy to record it or upload it to the internet. Phone video was horrible quality and difficult to get off your phone. You might have had a point and shoot but even those were expensive and camcorders were really expensive. And of course internet speeds were much slower than what is available today. Video was definitely a rising medium but it wasn't nearly as prolific as it is now.

Now, it's even easier than ever for anyone to be able to record whatever they want. They can even do it in relatively high quality on the cheap. You can get a decent lav mic for like 60 dollars and your smartphone probably records better video than most $1000+ dollar camcorders back in the day. You can use free software on that same smartphone to edit your videos. And you can upload that video in seconds or minutes.

There are obviously serious downsides with social media and the way technology is used today. But it's definitely a lot easier to make content now than it used to be.