I can think of many examples to the contrary (gaming (particularly ttrpgs), game development, amateur filmmaking, anime, music, fan fiction) which have only benefited from "mainstream" acceptance (primarily through the web - which itself "ruined" the internet,) rather than having been ruined by it. Also the hostile dynamic between mops and geeks described in the article isn't something I've observed in the wild. As far as I can tell most of the time mops and geeks (and even the "sociopaths") turn out to be more or less the same.
One would expect all of these former subcultures turned cultures to be entirely populated by sociopaths and mops giving nothing of quality back to the community, and for the geeks to have long fled the stables, but (to use an example) the people playing D&D today are just as passionate and creative as the people playing it in the 70s and 80s were.
What the article describes is a tendency, it happens, but it's not an axiom. In my experience, gatekeepers paranoid about maintaining their status and ego do far more harm than "muggles" learning about it.
One would expect all of these former subcultures turned cultures to be entirely populated by sociopaths and mops giving nothing of quality back to the community, and for the geeks to have long fled the stables, but (to use an example) the people playing D&D today are just as passionate and creative as the people playing it in the 70s and 80s were.
What the article describes is a tendency, it happens, but it's not an axiom. In my experience, gatekeepers paranoid about maintaining their status and ego do far more harm than "muggles" learning about it.