[Arainach]

It's been known in creative fields - including software - forever that payment in "influence" is worthless.

It's been a meme for decades.

http://www.fyoupay.me/

[BugsJustFindMe]

You're thinking of exposure, not influence. And the payment is what an individual agrees to. If you don't agree to doing work to gain influence, that's up to you, just like I don't agree to doing work for bitcoins or Pokémon cards.