I think there is something to this but I don’t think it explains everything because I can promise you that there shit asshole gatekeeping fans of things in the 90’s because I ran into them and probably sometimes was one too
Joshua Erlichto take an actual crack at this: requiring effort to access entertainment (set schedules, physical media, rare reruns, limited home access), often meant you proved yourself a fan by dint of the consumption itself, and I think that’s been replaced by toxic fandom to prove your bona fides.