ABSTRACT
Toffler identified the 1980s as the beginnings of the de-massification of media, meaning we went from large audiences watching a very few channels, to smaller audiences choosing from hundreds of channels, or a handful of available magazines to thousands. The media explosion was followed by the introduction of the personal computer, affordable for the masses by the 1980s. Then in the 1990s, the Internet, which up until that point had been for an elite and technically savvy population, widened such that anyone who owned a personal computer and a modem could get online. Media ceased to be the "one size fits all" model that was prominent earlier in the 20th century. In that era, a great deal of power was held by a very few individuals. The advent of the Internet and the birth of social media expanded the number of niche markets, each with its own micro-celebrities.
