No worries Tim. I am in the same boat. I have lived here for more than ten years, but I am originally from the US, not Iceland. In that sense I am a reformed tourist, even though I came here to work. I think in that sense it has been especially hard because I chose to immigrate based on how it was at the time, and now it is being transformed so radically. It is still wonderful to live here and there are of course still areas that have not been heavily affected, but a number of my favorite places which I discovered by chance or through lots of exploring are now ubiquitous on Instagram and travel blogs, and then they are overrun. The distance one has to go to be alone in the nature has increased quite a bit. Reykjavik itself is now quite crowded with people and traffic and half the downtown area is a construction site. It was quite a calm, small city, but that is changing. When I moved into my building for example, there were three other units, all occupied by Icelanders. Now my unit is the only one that is not a full time tourist rental apartment. The beach that you mention used to be just a beach, but they built a large cafe and tourist services building there now, large parking lots for the buses, and huge signs to prevent people from venturing out near the surf with their backs turned for selfies. Several people have died there in the last few years because they got snatched away by rogue waves.
The ropes are at many of the famous sites now as much to save the land as they are to prevent people from hurting themselves. The growing season here is only a few months and the moss in particular can take decades to regrow in area where it has been damaged. Unfortunately areas where there used to be a few hundred tourists a year now get a few thousand a day, and they simply cannot take it. I agree with you that it is a drag that they are now there, but it is a compromise between protecting the land and protecting the view. Even when the ropes are there, people routinely cross them to take selfies and get better views.
I think the kind of people on GetDPI are the best kind of tourists, and I imagine that everyone here who might come has an appreciation for the nature and culture, but it is a good reminder to step lightly and consider place you are visiting. It is the sad irony that the further we go in search of wild nature and "authentic experiences", the fewer experiences and the less nature there is to go around.