The Traditional Way: Information Networks
Before the advent of mass media, everybody had one or more chain of people providing him with information. These included merchant networks, churches, alumni networks of schools and universities. They were built around people, institutional or not.
Example: Roman Catholic Church
A classical example for the power of information processing is the [...]

Traffic is like the blood of all online activities: If nobody sees you article, photo, video, there is no sense in publishing it.
But not all traffic is equal:
The people who see you message on their screen need to

be interested in the topic
believe that you can give a valuable input
give you at least some trust [...]