TVL is not the goal; TVL is a necessary evil. Every dollar locked in a (especially immature) protocol instead of being locked in a simple and secure wallet is to some extent a security risk.

Sometimes we have to take that risk to get valuable benefits, but locking for the sake of locking should be minimized.

+1.

I think many projects promote their TVL to communicate:
"Look how much money has been already trusted with our protocol - it must be legit, and you are safe to ape in."

Ofc the last bull run showed us that following the herd might not be the best method to avoid risks.

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Definitely fat protocol meant (still is) more trusted. We inherited this from tradfi where Balance Sheets are the norm. We are learning how important protocol is rather than its sheer value.