Interactive nature of social networking site (SNS)

I found Winter et al.’s study quite interesting. As the authors stated, the design of Facebook and similar SNS put a large emphasis on user reactions, fostering a convergence of and high interaction between mass and interpersonal communication. Then, does this mean that we are having a larger number of opinion leaders than the past since more people have more access and means to post and share their opinions online? Would opinion leaders be discouraged if their opinions posted online are severely opposed by other users’ comments or low numbers of likes (negative peer reactions)? Can we still set the same standard of opinion leaders? Revisiting the theoretical concept of opinion leaders, which date back to the study by Katz and his colleagues, in a new media sphere would be interesting to study.