It SHOULD be about quality, and if they use Nostr then it is possible to make it about quality instead of quantity. But for people using centralized algo-driven social media, then unfortunately they have no choice but to gain the minimum follower/view count before they’re even allowed to monetize their content. And in order to gain followers, they have to be seen and that requires appeasing the algos, which ultimately service the advertisers and other corporate interests of the company running the network.