I don't really understand much about crypto yet. Things make sense to me only partially.
There is one thing that I have understood is that if the token doesn't have any valuable project behind it will turn to be a shitcoin. Another thing is how much the creators are interested in making it successful. If they just want to reward themselves without thinking about the community, the token wouldn't succeed.
I would agree with the points you have mentioned about airdrops. Instead of distributing them blindly on the basis of past reputation, the distribution should be for active users. These are the people who are really interested in the growth of the token.