jpdx

I think there are two different factors at play.

First, the blogs kill deals that used to be well hidden. This is pretty much incontrovertible and there for anyone to see (if you spend the time to read through some old threads). Read some threads from 2006 about churning or account funding, a 2007 thread about TYPs (the original version, where 60k points could yield a $9k ticket), the 2008 DL Budget rentals, Shutterfly in 2005 ... these were deals that were lucrative beyond-your-wildest-dreams, but things were kept quiet. If you asked an inquisitive question about churning, someone would PM you and ask you to edit your post, and you'd make friends you exchanged information with in private. It all changed, I'm not sure when and why, but secrecy is no more. Deals that were going on for years were killed overnight. Good men may disagree about what's better, secrecy or openness, and we can argue until we turn blue whether it's better for a select few to use a deal for years or thousands of people for a few days. But will this killing of deals damage FT? Probably not, although a case can probably be made that with every bright mind and knowledgeable poster wandering off to a private forum, FT loses out (and make no mistake, this is happening very frequently).

But second, and more importantly, there has been a significant change in the way content is created and discussed on FT. Think, for instance, about the current Radisson promo. In the past, this would have created a huge buzz on FT, with rich discussions. Now, it's essentially, "blog A says this" (often, this is posted by owner of blog A), "blog B says that," and there's very little discussion on FT. It takes place elsewhere, or not at all, because mommy or secrets, or whoever they are posts an "idiot's guide" with colorful illustration. And this effect, which has become more noticeable over the past few months, is threatening to FT, and I am greatly concerned about it.