I think that’s true for the arts in general. Unless you are both extraordinary talented and are able to get lots of people to recognize that talent it’s hard to make a living in the arts. Art is a wonderful thing to be passionate about, and it is an important part of life and society despite how some people tend to downplay its value. It’s rarely stable work. There is a reason why there are tropes like the starving artist or actors waiting tables.
It wasn’t just that. I used the first party app so the API changes didn’t affect me. It was how bad they handled the whole situation that made me lose faith that reddit was going in a good direction. That thread “addressing” the changes and concerns was brutal.