I am 36 if you must know. I do know a lot of the things you posted did exist. Your perosnal experiences probably did not match that of most Americans. The main point being we are far more connected now than we were in 2000 by an order of magnitude. ANd by E-commerce I meant selling normal goods online not just selling online services and things related to websites, telecommunication, ISP's, etc. Ebay was just getting started for example IIRC, and Amazon was not making a profit in 2000. It was early days was the main point, Everquest was not the 1st MMO but it was big by 2000 standards back then.
From the sounds of it you were on the cutting edge. Do you not understand the basic concept that due to increased internet usage since 2000 especially in the explosion of new devices that one can use these days I would expect there to be way more reviews these days than even a few years ago?
I think a better indicator is the relative lack of negative reviews in regards to 5E than the numbers relative to the internet bronze age when 3.0 launched. 5E seems to have had a good launch and the 4vengers types seem to be in a small minority compared to the h4aters that bailed on 4E and left negative reviews. How we buy things and how we communicate has changed in a massive way since 2000. I used steam as an example because I would not be surprised if Amazon, Steam and I-tunes for example end up becoming bigger than brick and mortar stores for purchasing things you got from a store in 2000. That is if they are not there already. Smartphones would be another example of a way to post online and shop as well.