I’d argue this isn’t true in sports journalism. A news tweet from Woj, Schefter, Rappoport, or Shams has far more reach than the same content in a random ESPN article or sportscenter segment. Without twitter, a whole world of addicted sports fans would have no idea who those guys are.

Red Scare and Chapo Trap House are niche media brands, but their hosts are new celebrities who got famous primarily through Twitter.

> Sure, but that small number of people are already famous outside of twitter.

That’s not entirely true, but for many of the ones that aren’t, blue checks and verification are often very much not in their interests.

You haven't been paying attention closely enough. Plenty of people get big on Twitter, and then parlay that into success in other spheres too.