The difference is: Way more men have been relegated to orbiter status in 2024 vs pre-internet.Those 'orbiters' are unattractive to the women they orbit. Even before the internet, I dated women who had orbiters, and none of them would ever end up in her bed. The 'abundance' is imaginary. They wouldn't have sex with any of them, especially the ones begging for sex. I know men can be thirsty enough to have sex with some unattractive women, but women rarely stoop to sex with unattractive men.
This is why I say, don't look at other men as your competitors. The only competition you should have is with your Past Self and only to improve your Future Self. Men following women on social media are rarely in a position to have real interactions with their crushes.
I dated women who had social media presence through their modelling agencies (it's more or less mandatory now as a fashion/runway model to have an IG account) and none of them pay any attention to the simpletons who follow their accounts. They do not factor in their lives. They don't date followers, they don't find dates on social media and/or dating apps.
Incidentally, before we had sex, I spent 2-3 years being somewhat of an orbiter to the last woman I had free sex with. While rare, an orbiter getting sex can happen. It probably helps that I have decent looks.