Oh, and I should also note, since you mention incentives, that I largely see my job as a writer to ignore what my audience wants. This is dangerous advice if taken too far, but what I mean is that people will reward me for writing slop, and I have to decide, am I here to write slop, or am I here to write something else even if people don’t like it as much. I choose to optimize for something other than upvotes, though I do care if people can make sense of what I’m saying and it’s worthwhile to them that I said it.
Oh, and I should also note, since you mention incentives, that I largely see my job as a writer to ignore what my audience wants. This is dangerous advice if taken too far, but what I mean is that people will reward me for writing slop, and I have to decide, am I here to write slop, or am I here to write something else even if people don’t like it as much. I choose to optimize for something other than upvotes, though I do care if people can make sense of what I’m saying and it’s worthwhile to them that I said it.