The Wave was published in 1981 before everyone had a smartphone and before the Internet was a household necessity. How might The Wave look if it were set in the twenty-first century?

Group or mob mentality, in addition to the propensity for believing propaganda hasn't changed much over the years.... turn on the news, it is obvious. "Flash Mobs" are a perfect example. Technology makes it that much easier to sway people's beliefs and communicate with large groups of people. Many people believe what they see on social media..... they don't fact check, they don't look at both sides of the equation. When Strasser wrote The Wave, his students passed along new verbally, either in person or by phone..... home phone. Students also gathered information from their school newspaper, but even then, look at the number of students that paid no attention.