What happened to BP?
Not really a lot. It’s just like any other forum that has many members. I visit a lot of Hot Rod forums. There are always the loudmouth types that act like they just built a Ridler winner, and dispense advise whether solicited or not. Then there are the quieter lurker types that actually have some wisdom, and a ton of experience, but don’t pop up every time someone has a question that they could have easily answered with the judicious use of the “Search” function.
That pattern is prevalent on just about every web forum on almost ANY subject you can imagine. Gardening. Guitar playing. Sports. There’s always a few loudmouth know-it-alls, and a few truly knowledgeable lurkers, but it’s always mostly a soup of inexperienced beginners that are generally ill equipped to discern the difference between the two.
No matter the subject, the internet in general is a “buyer beware” situation.
Here’s an internet mechanic horror story for you: Tuner wrecks customer’s Ford GT, situation devolves from there - Autoblog