[alx_the_new_guy]

>I do not understand people who volunteer unpaid labor and then complain bitterly about it.

Well, let's say you helped someone on Reddit.

What you were intending to do is to share your life experience with someone, making their, and maybe probably someone else's life meaningfully easier/save them some time. And, hopefully, someone will treat you the same way in return.

What you also have done is contributed said part of your life experience towards making some meaninglessly rich guy even richer, and who will enshittify the platform you presumably enjoy using in return, so that he can make pennies on top of the follar he already earns.

[spaced-out]

Why did you "help" (in other words make a post/comment) that person on Reddit? Because you enjoy it, you enjoyed reading posts and comments by strangers, replying to them, and seeing your comments accumulate upvotes and other comments. Reddit gave you that experience for free.

[inkywatcher]

Reddit also occupies the space that otherwise might permit a more useful, benevolent internet platform. From a certain perspective, Reddit is standing in the way of an internet that better facilitates the enjoyment you describe.

[spaced-out]

You could say that about nearly any good thing in life. Your current job/relationship may be holding you back from an even better one. Those leftovers you grabbed out of the fridge are occupying the space that could be taken by an even better meal. Every minute you spend watching a TV show you've already seen or a videogame you've already played is taking away time from your finite lifespan you could be spending on new, novel experiences.

If there's a better platform for giving you what you want, I'm sure you'd leave Reddit and never look back. If this platform you're imaging doesn't exist, how do you know it even could ever exist?

[harkinian]

These two things are not mutually exclusive. You can help someone via Reddit and Reddit also profits. But you aren't gonna get paid for it.