[padraic7a]

I think there are a few things going on.

One is that the Internet makes showing off what you do so easy, and adding ads is just a small addition to a website, blog or YouTube channel so monetization is fairly straightforward.

Another Internet related phenomenon is that the availability of training, information and equipment online makes it easier to produce 'professional' quality work than in the past. I homebrew beer as a hobby and fellow hobbyists can make niche brews with obscure ingredients in stainless steel fermenters, with temperature control and even low oxygen processes. A few years ago this would have been very difficult. I think the situation is replicated in other hobbies.

So standards of 'work' achievable in hobbies are higher, partly through information availability. Sharing and monetising your work is easier.

If you're looking to change career then turning a hobby into a job sounds like a great idea. Otherwise it just seems like a way to ruin the pastime.