I think the difference is the speed at which we arrive at the societal consensus. Case in point, recent debate. The thing had real time memes and reactions ( including BPU one ) and immediate damage control on various fora ( and fascinating stuff on reddit where stuff is already prone to be an echo chamber ) and all of that coalescing into the meta-conversation we are having today mere days after a, I would argue, a big political event, whose waves are yet to wash ashore.

Manufacturing consent helps to understand the mechanics of how it works, but it did not really change; it just got quicker.