I miss old internet stuff to, but in a way I think it’s just morphed. First you have to look past the influencer/marketing cruft trying to pass as authentic but I find real great content is predominantly being created on YT and other video channels. The production value I see some amateur folks take is insane and has to be a massive hobby in of itself.
Also have to just realize the web is now public transport where it used to be exclusive. It’s like flying in 1962 versus 2022
Is it material for most? I’d bet it hardly offsets the investment in AV equipment as well as editing software. For a lot of people, learning video editing is path for content creation just like learning to code is/was for many others. To some degree, I’d venture they are in competition with each other. And code has more business value while video has broader appeal. So more so just pointing out how the trends have played out such that developers are not necessarily the “creators” of the experienced internet any more. They mostly just do the plumbing.
My YT watching tends to be around DIY stuff, how to, engineering and home/construction. These are people that in past would have made high quality blogs with tutorials but now just make videos. I’m consistently impressed by the storytelling and production value. Even if they technically receive an ad share I still think they’re amateur. There are a few that have crossed over into massive popularity and it’s probably significant but that’s not the norm. Even in the old days, people put ads on their tutorial pages and a lot of blogs so it’s no different, to me.
Also have to just realize the web is now public transport where it used to be exclusive. It’s like flying in 1962 versus 2022