The article is really nice, with a fresh perspective on how we-the-public (or, rather, segments of the public with very different worldview) perceive creations

The article is really nice, with a fresh perspective on how we-the-public (or, rather, segments of the public with very different worldview) perceive creations and creators, and how that seems changed recently because of the incentives driven by social media. But perhaps similar interplay of the triangle of artist-fans-critic was already there a century or two ago, just on a smaller scale ?