This is not an isolated case; I've been noticing quite a bit lately that news articles are referring to "people in general" or "a lot of people" as "the Internet." Here's the latest example I've seen (from the News app on my iPhone):
Naturally, the Internet cannot be amazed at anything. It is not a person; it is not a sentient entity.
So why are reporters/writers now calling "people" by the medium they access to respond to things or events?
Before the Internet, a newspaper would say, "Our readers seem to be amazed by Nixon's love for his dog Checkers"; a radio announcer might say, "Many of our listeners find the music of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to be derivative" (or something like that).
What's with the Internet being treated like a collective mass of humanity?