Yeah this is an important question. A big reason why the internet is the way it is today is because creating and updating quality content takes time and a certain amount of skill, which most people want to be compensated for.
Stack Exchange is a private, profitable business. Wikimedia Foundation collects a hundred million dollars in donations each year and spends 40% of it to keep functioning. The contributors are effectively volunteers supporting these companies, which is a lot different than running your own site or channel and pumping content into it regularly.
