I'm sure that once MK stopped posting Xmas greetings on the site because she opened Twitter and Instagram accounts, the demise of MKF was hastened. Especially so when its creator, Heather, was no longer able to maintain the site and it began being hacked.
After MK stopped competing, the site continued on for many years, beyond how long anyone could think possible! To be honest, MKF was the first skating fan forum of its kind in the early, pioneering days of the Internet. Heather deservedly won numerous awards for creating and maintaining the site. It was groundbreaking and influential in its day.
Many fans who were members there, struck up lifelong friendships. I know a few people who were once avid MK fans and diehard skating fans who have over the past 3 to 5 years transitioned away from even following figure skating. One person I know always attended U.S. Nationals and Skate America for many years, and she contributed money to help fund skaters. I was surprised when she recently told me she isn't following the sport much anymore. She may attend events again once they start back. She also posted on MKF years ago, but she was never a frequent poster on the top two forums in existence today.
What happened in general, IMO, is that many former MKF posters gravitated to FSU and some to GSF, and some to both sites. FSU slowly became the place to be and the general snarky vibe changed there somewhat because a number of MKF fans made the dynamic friendlier. Certainly, the former dislike (by some) on that site of MK, softened to a great degree.
The upshot is that general skater forums where there are so many topics to discuss, which are not limited to fandom for one skater, allows for a site to flourish without any built-in expiration date, often determined by skaters moving on from active competitive careers.
And yet, it's still notable how long MKF continued with active engagement well beyond MK's skating days. I was thinking how nice it might have been for a big bash to happen celebrating the end of the online site once there were only a few people still going there regularly. But I guess there were and maybe still are some small groups of former MKF members who get together on a regular basis because they remain friends beyond figure skating. Plus, Michelle even befriended her most devoted fans whom she got to know personally. There are a few fans MK will call up to this day and invite to lunch when she is visiting their locale.

Yes indeed! Michelle Kwan is truly that kind of special, caring, and generous human being.