Sure Netflix played a part but a larger portion of the growth was probably from popular twitch streamers/YouTubers who picked up the hobby and brought their you

Sure Netflix played a part but a larger portion of the growth was probably from popular twitch streamers/YouTubers who picked up the hobby and brought their young communities with them to chess tournaments vs other similar streamers etc in recent years. It's become like a social status among people to have a decent elo, a horrible marker for intelligence but a growing popular one.