I say: "why not". If you feel strongly enough that you have a good idea, whether it is original or not is irrelevant. There are countless reasons not to do something, but you only need one reason to do it. Take some time to build your knowledge then go for it. In general, I'd recommend forking your coin from one of the existing big ones rather than creating a token, but for what you've mentioned, maybe a token is 'good enough' for an intermediary coin. The advice to join another coin or two or three to learn from them is not a terrible idea either

I actually agree with this. The thing is, it is fully your responsibility to make this work, if you are really motivated to do so. Despite what others say, ICOs aren't "dead". China's crackdown isn't because ICO's don't work, it's because the ICO culture just shot themselves in the foot. The rampant money grabbing culture and blatant disregard for investors' interest, is a reflection of how both investors and ICO projects reinforced the concept of an ICO as a "Free money as long as I use hype words and cool graphs" opportunity.
The space of possibilities with token currencies is still largely unexplored, and its process of maturation is bound to be accompanied with pain and hiccups.
That being said, I am not particularly optimistic about your coin idea, but I do encourage people to be creative and explore the possibilities, as long as they take it seriously and do it for the right reasons. I think in general it's good to ask yourself the question of what a token is, what its unique properties are, and if there's good reason to use it in whatever you're making or building. Is it a store of value? Does it confer unique rights? Is it an API key? Even if you're not a coder, diving into the material isn't as hard - spending a day or two exploring all the different venues could give some inspiration, and at the very least make you knowledgeable about something genuinely interesting that might have a big role in changing the economy and internet.
If you do choose to do so, you'll probably be inclined not to make a new coin, but I do hope it might spark some curiosity in this exciting space, perhaps even join some of the better crypto/token projects out there

As the China ban showed, the crypto communities are in dire need of people who aren't there just for the money.