In contrast to this, there’s something really special about finding your little niche of fans. There are about 6 or 7 people on Tumblr for whom I make a lot of my art (though it’s all open to view for the public and generally has 50-100 repeat followers). We’ll often riff off of each others’ art as well; I find that making art for that small community inspires me, makes the work more enjoyable, and pushes me to produce much better work than I would for just myself.
But apart from finding a close community like this (who just happen to be online), I agree that engagement-driven or profit-driven creativity is generally an inspiration killer. It’s one of the main reasons why I chose to keep art as a hobby rather than a career. If I lost the passion for it, I wouldn’t know what to do with my life.