The internet collapsed traditional gatekeepers into view-count metrics

Evidence

His ascent also demonstrated the efficiency of the internet in identifying marketable talent. For record labels, YouTube became a farm league, in which view counts served as a reliable metric for an artist’s viability. Bieber wasn’t just a fluke; grassroots popularity in cyberspace now served as a critical step toward global stardom. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 291

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Internet ended editorial gatekeeping between content producers and audiences — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 147