> I can't think of any internet stars I'm particularly desperate to see go into politics, and that's not because I'm delighted by the status quo
This is a good point, but consider how a lot of politics is kept off of typical social media channels, either due to overarching censorship or decency concerns, because of concerns about repelling advertisers, or simply because the main issues we are fed have mostly to do with what powerful interests want (fear of Islam, fear of Russia, fear of immigration, fear of global warming, etc.)
Certainly such a system would be full of many of the same noise and garbage that fills social media, but I think it would be very interesting to see what would emerge if the constraints imposed by elites were not relevant.
Right now, the only people who focus on social media are the Kim Kardashians and Donald Trumps of the world. More serious people avoid it. Even Michael Moore, in an attempt to use social media to spread his views, now acts like a B-list celeb and plays to a very large, mainstream audience. He essentially plays the part of earnest lefty filmmaker, but he's not anywhere near power.
