Yeah, the availability of tools is a huge factor in driving this.

I had originally included a bit in this post about the similarity of the explosion in data analysis tools in the past few years, and the explosion of web mapping tools in mid 2000’s. I recall that there were subsequent debates about mapping and visualization ethics after these new tools lowered the bar for users to build things. I couldn’t find anything concrete to link to about this debate, but I do think it’s an important connection to make with what we’re seeing now.