I don't think Flyertalk killed FFPs. But I will pull on that thread just a little bit...

When frequent travel programs were great, it was in part because of information arbitrage. On another thread, I posted about how I used to occasionally hear from a front desk clerk that I was the only Marriott Marquis member in the hotel, so I got an upgrade. I remember trips where I received a comp upgrade as an AA Gold because I was the only one on the plane. The hotel or plane was still relatively full, but people either didn't know or didn't care about the programs. Perhaps they thought you needed to be a super-road-warrior to participate, or perhaps they thought it a silly thing akin to coupon-clipping. Anyway, all of those people effectively paying for miles and points but not receiving them were subsidizing the awards for the people who paid attention.

Now everybody pays attention. The hotel and airplane are full of Diamonds, Platinums, etc. who are receiving and using their points and miles. Even if they don't study Flyertalk and learn where the absolute sweet spot in the program is, the very fact that they pay attention means less of their value subsidizes my awards.

So yeah, Internet sites may have played a role in that. Corporate travel department newsletters, the programs' own advertising, pop culture (that movie about AA CK...) and simple word-of-mouth in meatspace played roles as well.

My take is that the future isn't entirely bleak, but the aspirational awards and the advantage gained by paying attention and learning loopholes is diminishing. The programs are becoming purely transactional - spend X, get a rebate of Y later. "Loyalty" is mostly dead. Whomever provides me airline seats or hotel beds the cheapest, within my functional requirements, wins. My functional requirement may be a great product - J/F seat, luxury hotel - or it might be basic Y + Hampton Inn. Either way, the rewards from the programs are becoming easy-to-calculate extrinsic rewards that require no emotion and no consideration of the travel provider as anything more than a commodity.

Flyertalk is a lot less interesting than it was a few years ago. Back when frequent, varying promotions were a big thing, there was always something new to learn on your airline board of choice. Partner promos were big - NW, AA, US were three I recall that had frequent BIG partner promos that FTers always kept a running commentary for how to maximize. Now the entire game is credit cards, which is less interesting once you know the max churn rate you can do for a given bank.