Your thinking is well reasoned. However, I think you are defining profit too narrowly to a direct currency transaction. Money <> Time <> Happiness are fungible

Your thinking is well reasoned. However, I think you are defining profit too narrowly to a direct currency transaction. Money <> Time <> Happiness are fungible to a large degree. Even altruistic actions are done for profit. I received more satisfaction and sense of well being from building a Habit for Humanity all day than I do from a $500 prostitute. My point is that people who don't profit (monetarily) from communication are not 'good' or morally better than people who do. Your politician example is a great example. Their effective communication definitely increases their future profits (govt employment, lobbying, or political donations) because it increases their political power. You could say that Brand advertising has the same profit timeline as political speech. I don't think there are many differences between online and off. Main differences are anonymity and scale. The drivers of behavior and dynamics are pretty much the same.