Influence vs Creativity-how the online media changed

I was listening to an episode of the Rich Roll Podcast with Casey Neistat. I am not a regular listener of the podcast but I saw Casey on it and wanted to give it a listen.
The episode was great to listen to. Apparently, Casey has been on the podcast multiple times in the past too. They went over a lot of topics. I don’t want to talk about everything but one particular thing that Casey said. Rich asked Casey about the current state of online media and influencers. Casey shared a very interesting take.
He said that currently in online media influence is more important than creativity. The content that gets the most influence gets more importance. It doesn’t matter what type of content it is, as long as it is getting clicks it is getting appreciated. Casey did mention that he is not targeting any of the current creators and their content. He just wanted to highlight how influence and creativity are two different things. An artist creates because he has to. He doesn’t create for the influence. He doesn’t need the online media and attention. But for an influencer creation is dictated by the market. The next piece of content is made based on what will create more influence. Moreover, these pieces of influential content are more appreciated compared to great works of art.
I like and agree with this take from Casey. I also agree that things have been like this even before online media. If you look at the Oscars or any other awards show. The best film is never the one that sold the most. It never happens. That’s similar to what’s going on in the online media world.
It was a very insightful podcast. I always love getting to know more about how creative artists thing about things. It helped me also decide why I want to make content. Is it for me or the influence?