There have been cases where folks have paid for stuff, but it always seems to be very crypto related (NFTs, downloadable content for games, services for HIVE developers like database access, etc). Back in the Steem days people used to pay for visibility/promotion too, but it only worked to get people visibility on chain, not like advertising where you get web traffic.
Usually any online community will find a way to make it about pr0n, dating, and selling things. It is a very weird situation here as someone who has been on the web since 1994, and on the internet before that!