I think that view is rather rose-tinted, because it assumes (A) a majority of the the anonymous audience are able to independently assess its quality (B) they'll do so accurately (C) it's so easy/fast that they'll actually do it.
For every "undiscovered genius whose treatise finally gets a fair shake", there are hundreds of cranks, trolls, or attention-seekers who -- freed of reputation -- can create a hundred mutated iterations of low-quality stuff until something takes off just due to random luck. Sockpuppets are another concern, since it's easier to fabricate a consensus approval.
None of this is especially new either -- BBSes and usenet and web-forums have been around for decades.
For every "undiscovered genius whose treatise finally gets a fair shake", there are hundreds of cranks, trolls, or attention-seekers who -- freed of reputation -- can create a hundred mutated iterations of low-quality stuff until something takes off just due to random luck. Sockpuppets are another concern, since it's easier to fabricate a consensus approval.
None of this is especially new either -- BBSes and usenet and web-forums have been around for decades.