The fact that the main influencers at the time were certain characters of the show business, critics of that sector, mass media, TV, etc.,
In 2019 (I think) Ronaldo made 3x as much (60 million) from Instagram, than from playing football. However, he wouldn't be able to do that unless he played football well first. It isn't always the case, but normally the real influencers are the ones who have years of work under their belt first.
At least you will get paid for the review - most of the social proofing is done for free through shares of products most sharers haven't used.
There have always been influencers in society - for better and worse. We all influence others through our actions too, for better and worse and often in unseen ways that we never intended. As the saying goes, no man is an island and that applies to all kinds of interactions.