i guess it depends a lot on what u expect an award to stand for...
some might see it as a way to increase the e-peen, especially in combination with a high postcount and considerable reputation. others merely use it to show certain personal preferences (yaoi, yuri, neko, whatever). for many it might even turn into some kind of popularity contest, but hopefully the latter group is just a minority.
while i admit that most of the new awards don't really show any accomplishments i can't see whats wrong with them either. after all uploading content is not the only way to contribute in a forum, especially when u take into consideration that a huge amount of that content either comes in the form of links taken from somewhere else or remote uploads. nothing wrong with either of those, but lets face it, it doesn't take such a huge effort that users who do so deserve to be featured on some special wall of fame.
the way i see it those new awards are a nice little gimmick for ppl who feel the need to "upgrade" their profile.
of course they don't really mean anything, but they don't hurt anyone either...