But for many of the top creators mentioned in the article I strongly suspect that writing reviews, making comments or editing Wikipedia is a part of their identity. Something that gives their life meaning.
And to be fair, writing reviews or editing Wikipedia certainly is a meaningful thing to do.
These 1%'ers have a massive impact on the world. An impact they couldn't necessarily have if their motives were financial.
> what other motives do people have for the content they create online?
Often the best kind. They want to share a joke, or a piece of knowledge. I found this kind of material is of much better quality than paid one.
Of course, sometimes we don't know if the "payment motive" really was removed. Marketers and paid trolls do receive money for posting to on-line communities.
When reading something online I always ask myself what motive the person had for writing it.