Not a lot of people had computers with Internet back then. So sure, you can’t captivate the same percentage of the entire World Wide Web - but why would you expect that to be a reasonable assumption?
Sure, in a world where the web was a couple million nerds you’d expect your content to be a bit more visible.
But the web is measured in billions of users now.
I would also suggest that writing content just to ensure that people read it is looking at it the wrong way. That’s a shallow popularity contest. If the production of that content doesn’t bring you satisfaction on its own then it doesn’t matter whether you have 1 view or a million, it’s not making you happy.
Humans seek social interaction, whether that's in person or online, or by doing good or bad things to get attention. I would not call that a popularity contest because it happens with everything. A popularity contest would be one extreme end of a range of behavior.
If you are producing content for yourself and it makes you happy then you don't need to put it in public view. The whole point of the internet is to interact, share your work and see others' work.
That is the point I was refuting. In the current web, communication is still the overarching motivator. Content still matters, and the usability of your site is a factor in communicability. So, if someone's site is easier to navigate and more frequently updated due to the use of updated technology, that may be a factor when people decide where to spend their time.
When the web was new you could get a lot of hits with static content. It is not so easy to do that now.