"One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create. In a sense, the internet is the multimedia equivalent of the photocopier. It allows material to be duplicated at low cost, no matter the size of the audience."
Gates didn't use the term "user-generated content" here, but that's pretty much what he described. Back then, a select few companies and institutions created most of what users saw. The average Joe who wanted to elevate his voice in 1996 wrote letters to the editor of the local paper.
But the nascent internet offered a world of democratization, Gates realized, that allowed anyone with a modem to create new and exciting things.
From watching viral hits like "Charlie bit my finger" to the internet being where one of the world's biggest pop stars was found, we can definitely say this prediction is spot on.
In 2016, a big chunk of the Internet is built by the very people who also consume it, from Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook to the various blogging platforms that give anyone a voice if they have something to say.