This is very well-written and insightful, and illustrates beautifully what I've come to realize about the Internet the more I've used it and been involved in its communities for both work and pleasure....the Internet is the great equalizer. Everyone starts out the same here. There is no discrimination based on any factor that may come into play in the "real world." Everyone beings in the same place, and can build or ruin their influence online by how carefully they tend their reputation. Fortunes are built online by regular people just by them taking good care of their reputation.
Our reputation is our brand, with anything we do online, commercial, personal, or otherwise. We can do whatever we want with it, and the sky is the limit. We can also have more than one online identity and a reputation associated with each identity, which is something we can't do in the physical world. What we do with our reputation or reputations is up to us.
I haven't read the book you referenced, but I should; it sounds fascinating. Thank you for this valuable addition to the Steem platform. We can all learn something valuable from it.