Airdrop in the crypto space has evolved from doing extremely simple tasks like posting on social media to doing more complicated tasks in testnets that are common nowadays. Honestly, I stopped doing airdrop hunting a long time ago, but I don't expect that we need to spend money now to get airdrops, and it's still not sure that we'll get them. It makes me avoid airdrops more unless they're airdrops, as the effect of using previous popular chains like Ethereum, Stellar, etc. makes me think it's really risky.
The modern airdrop model is actually better. Back then, people are incentivized to spam social media and tag people and stuff. Today, people are incentivized to actually use and test these crypto platforms(hence making the platforms better). It's not even comparable to how better it is today.