It is a strong opinion. Not sure I agree with it. I feel that in the online space, individuals have grown astoundingly more powerful in just the last five years

It is a strong opinion. Not sure I agree with it. I feel that in the online space, individuals have grown astoundingly more powerful in just the last five years alone - that is, the same force that makes us look up information on Google and Wikipedia reflexively and operate from a similar factual basis, also puts us on an equal playing field. If you want to get ahead in knowledge, not only are the old options of pounding pavement and hitting the stacks still available, but you can turn the results into more valuable information by publishing them. With solid evidence and persuasive arguments alone, your case can be made to the masses and change collective understanding. You need only look at how many people follow crackpots(and perhaps the number of times you yourself have been temporarily deluded into entertaining a crackpot theory) to see how works in practice. Thus, in the short term: mobs. In the long term: Great Authors.