Well there is a difference between hoping for some attention or payback compared to -expecting- it. When you expect it every single time is when I feel you get the people that believe everything they produce is magical fairy dust as you put it.
But the point is that the idea that one should be happy if no one reads your work because you're doing it for yourself is not realistic and no one should be held to that standard.
Expecting or hoping, in the end, if you do the work, there's nothing wrong with people wanting a payoff.
That's not what I got at all, but sure. I'll take you at your word.
If you put in the work and prospects are good, you should get something in return whether it be money, recognition, or something else.
I feel like people are understanding that when someone says "create for yourself" when referring to themselves, them mean create for yourself alone. Earlier I defended that statement, "create for yourself" and I still do. While my first priority is to create for myself regardless if I get anything out of it, it's not my only priority. First and foremost I want to make something I can enjoy, but it's not as though I never want to get noticed or earn money off what I do.
And back to what you said @carloswebcomic. Success doesn't make a artist, making art makes an artist.
No where did I say in my statements that I do it for myself. Like I said in other posts if people read it good enough for me. There isn't anything wrong with wanting a pay off but expecting it is getting into this mindset that everything you do is certain to have a payoff. I have a realistic belief that I'm probably not going to make a living off my work that is why I own my own real life business and am self employed and don't rely on my art alone.
Yes, you should be realistic, but the issue is that some people people believe that no one should ever want or expect a payoff.
Now, how much of payoff you want, that's a different matter and subject to expectation vs reality, but following the subject of this thread, there's nothing wrong with wanting more than just a vacuum of silence.
I think ultimately, the most important thing is to define what a individual creator's goal is before giving advice.
Do they want to get lots of views and cultivate a following? Do they want to create x-thing for their own self improvement and simply have it available to the public for more accessible feedback?
Personally, after I graduated college, anything I post online I welcome any sort of response. Right now it is largely about trying to grab people's attention, since I want to ultimately monetize it. But before I was aware of the plethora of sharing networks online, I was pretty happy just making things to entertain myself.
I think back to the first graphic novel I ever completed. It was created years ago during college, way before I even considered sharing a comic on the internet. I think maybe only 10 or fewer people have actually read the whole thing and I never got any real feedback on it. But I enjoyed making it, the whole process from scripting, drawing, photo-editing, graphic-designing, printing, and binding 3 copies into an actual book by hand. I was practicing, putting my skills to work. And I was happy with it. I even ended up using it as part of my senior project/thesis.
And even the comics I made in high school, the only person I really shared them with were my dad. They stood as my own twisted diary entries, blending real jokes and funny situations from my classmates with completely invented fantasies, fun stuff I wish could happen, often parroting the wacky shenanigans of the cartoons I watched. So while my dad's reactions were the cherry on top, I was satisfied that I could make myself laugh with my own imagination and recollections.
(If you can't tell I'm an only child lol.)
Basically what @joannekwan and @IndigoShirtProd mentioned.
It's really just a key to have balance, see what someone's goal is, and understand:
A) Yeah, sometimes, you will NOT get the attention you want. Sometimes, you will NOT get the payoff you desire. At the same time, at least making something you enjoy despite that can sometimes help push you onward, even just a little.
B) Numbers don't define you completely, and that your self-worth as an artist posting isn't completely and utterly dictated by this. But that doesn't mean you can't feel frustrated if you are working hard and want to see some type of progress.
Again -- it all comes down to picking and choosing what you interpret from the advice, what you take form it, and whether you feel it will help you. And when I say "create for myself", it's basically of the mindset of "no one is forcing me to do this comic. If I'm not getting paid/attention and I'm not enjoying it, I won't do it and will move on to other things. Which means, if I'm continuing to do it, despite not earning money/attention, something inside me must seemingly enjoy this and thus I will continue."
That's how I see it and that's my final thought on it. 
I do agree with you, particularly I just want to have discussions with people haha. I like to draw my characters and posts stories it makes me happy when people want discuss and make theories or analyses of my work. I personally think it's cool. I create the stories for myself but it does feel kind of lonely when there's no one around to discuss my work with and no one who'll give a reaction. I guess it's just that I really like to discuss and analyze literary works with others a lot so I always want someone who I can discuss at length with my own stories.
And another reason I want attention for my work is because I want it to have a monetary outlet XD, which I feel like if someone told me to draw for myself in that case I'd smack them upside the head. I enjoy doing this and that's why I want to make money from this. I know some people are fine keeping it as a hobby but for me, I want to have more time to myself doing the things I love instead of having it taken away by a day job, and the only way for that to happen is if I could use the things I love to keep myself afloat.
I find the people who dismissively say "create for yourself" come from a place where they made what they wanted and it worked out perfectly, so they just assume everyone else will be just as successful. Like those youtube stars who are like "ya I'm 19 and a millionaire, so can you!" and it's like no dummy, you're 19 and you have no freakin idea how you're viral and neither do we.
And then I'll also hear artists say "Create for yourself" who are like "I took a year off of art and I started making what I want, which is this * insert wildly popular fanart-y thing here *, and then weirdly I got all these followers! Can you believe it?" and it's like...no duh honey.
I find that the internet can't seem to figure out when I want advice and when I want someone to just share with my misery, so I tend not to post my misery anymore because the way the internet is set up is just...an advice machine. Even if people don't have advice really, and so they pull for the only thing they can think of which is sometimes "have you tried creating for yourself?" and it's like effffffff.
I agree a lot with the OP. And i seen a lot of that here and in other communities.
I don't create for myself. The entire story is already on my head, with far better mental graphics that anything my awful skills could come with. I create to share/make a living. The version in my head is far superior than the version i can make.
I know art is more seen as "entertainment/culture", so maybe it doesn't have the same value you will give to a doctor, lawyer, engineer or whatever, but people don't expect those professionals to work for free, but DO expect that from artists.
"Are you accepting FREE commisions? i want you to draw my OC's" and such. Never someone will ask "are you accepting FREE medical exams/defend me in court/build a house"?
I'm a bit lost on the conversation right now...
As for my own frustration for a lack of response, I just move on and make something else and hopefully that one will be noticed. By doing so, I've seen ups and downs and seen what flopped and what didn't. I don't like one flop bother me and just keep going.
This strategy works for me because I make so many things and not just one big project.
This is why having other artist friends is so important. When I post something on social media, usually I'll only get a few likes from some close friends.
And you what? Those three likes feel really dang good, and can make me feel better about throwing art up into the void of the internet, because my friends liked it.
I do feel like it's sometimes hard to differentiate between someone who's saying "my work gets zero response, and this makes me feel discouraged from posting more art" and "my work isn't getting the response I feel it deserves".
Very different problem, there.
This is a really interesting important point I've found all over the internet. Sometimes, you're not upset or looking for advice, you're just frustrated and want to vent over a situation you're struggling with and many people see this as you either hating on more popular creators or needing advice, and often give out really basic cliche advice that's not really anything to do with your frustrations just what people are supposed to say in this situation.
