The Internet empowered the masses. It replaced newspapers and TV, which were authored by a small handful of people. Every technology on this scale causes a power shift. Operating systems and Iphones gave people a voice who were incapable of navigating a command line. The ability to use the internet became idiot proof. No technology has empowered the masses as much as the internet. I can't think of a bigger power shift. Has society become more healthy since then? More fertile? More self-preserving? More self-respecting? Instead of rooting for the masses to stand up against a perceived orpressor, maybe we'd be better off rooting for the guy with the whip to stand up against the masses!