@bert_hubert 1/2 As an author, I'm not at all surprised: Even in publishing houses, this development started much earlier. It was about 2002-2004, when publishers asked agents not about content but authors' titles, connections, and fame. With Facebook's success, you had to bring a fandom to get a contract which pushed the craze for follower numbers even more. Meantime, even #selfpublishers are better multi-channel influencers.
In 2012, I wrote about the first @writing