I think the cyclical, self-destrctive nature of the grifts he discusses really is different from any trends I saw on the internet in the 90s. He's not suggesting that the online world of the 90s was all rainbows and unicorns, but that much internet "culture" today works on the basis of hurting the very people perpetuating it, trapping them within it. That may not be entirely new in human experience, but it's more visible, more spread-able, more mainstream, more large-scale than ever.