negativity towards "airdrop farmers" is misplaced and biased.

hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people all over the world have decided that doing microwork for protocols is their best path to economic prosperity. that is incredible and should be celebrated. 

it's on us to enable them to contribute positively.

Is it meaningful income for a lot of people? Yes.

But should you need to financially incentivize users to use your product? NO! 

Give airdrops to node validators and people running the infra that make a product possible but why the hell are we PAYING people to use our products!?!? Thats not how you reach PMF…

Neovim enjoyer, "a gift to the culture" | Building at /thirdweb

Users of a protocol get value from having other users on it.

In the beginning, there are no other users. A protocol needs to somehow make up for it. 

If (!!) done right, Airdrops are a good option. It’s simply marketing.

Just like Uber airdropped $$ for booking or offering a ride when they started in a new city.