When I decided to go back to my roots and make a folk album, I realized that folk's popularity in this country has always gone in cycles; for a while, it'll be the hip new thing, then it'll go underground for a while, then re-surface as the new hip thing...
I think the online world has made life a lot easier for struggling folk singers. As part of a niche group, a small genre group if you will, there are less and less outlets for all of us. The Net makes it easier to get your music out there. Even big stores like Amazon.com are willing to put up our independent albums, and you can't buy that kind of exposure.
I don't think anything can devalue folk music; it's in its nature to survive, whether it's popular at the moment or not.