Others have already noted how the information age has made things once uncool into cool. The nerds of the past have now become style makers and taste makers. So many counter cultures have done that historically. It kinda functions like the
Dynastic Cycle of pop culture. (Minus the Mandate of Heaven, obviously,
) It is funny though, because before recently I never really considered nerds to have been counter culture, but it seems obvious they were.
I think the word "geek" has been slowly taking on the meaning that the slang word "freak" had in the past. Not as in "Hey look at the freak!" the pejorative, but as in "Hey, what's your freak?" as a noun representing a person's interest. That came into popular usage in the sixties once the Hippy culture got into full popular swing. That is also the origin of other phrases that hung around longer like "get your freak on" (though that typically used now to refer to sex exclusively, rather than other interests) as well as "Let your freak flag fly" (which I am particularly fond of.)
So now if someone is interested in X they claim to be an "X geek." That is different from the older use of "geek" to mean someone with an unusual or obsessive interest, who is usually an outsider.
I find all of this fascinating as a "word geek," because both of those nouns had past pejorative usage prior to them being used as a self identifier for something a person enjoys or is interested in. I think that switch in language and identity must be deeply ingrained into the dynamic of counter cultures becoming mainstream and how people process it.
But yeah, I find gatekeeping a pretty odious thing in this context, because typically it is those who have previously been excluded seeking to exclude others. That is far more hypocritical than a privileged elitist acting as gatekeeper.
Oh and boy to I have some Gamestop stories. I used to work there. But that is another freak for another post.