Yeah it was supposed to be gratitude to the community but check the icos on icoalert now. Almost every ico is trying to build a community of 5k to 20k members through airdrops. That is not what i would call an community which came on their own but rather came due to some free tokens. When 10 dollars worth of tokens are airdropped to people, you just don't give them 10 dollars, rather you give them power to force you into some unfavourable decisions which you wouldn't have done!
To think in another way, lets say you join as a person who wishes to get airdrop which is worth 10 dollars. Even if the company and everything about is great, the tokens are not likely to go beyond 20 or 30 dollars within a month and you find it much easier to sell it off as soon as they come and maybe use that money to buy small quantities of something you may prefer, or into something you actually may believe in! The minute the tokens get unlocked, the same people will literally try to ask, plead, beg , harass and kill you if you don't give them an exchange to sell off those very tokens! Isn't this a bummer for the ico's who are looking to stay in the market for as long as they can!