Bitcoin Forum

According to
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

I read:


If I am not wrong, I remember 98 merit source.


A single MS with a 500 sMerits allowance has just disappeared? Interesting!


Time to beef up some or the existing MS (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5198889.0;topicseen) or to pick a new one (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5197548.0)?

I guess we will soon know more about it!

Blacknavy (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1018510)
I've quit my volunteer merit source status (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5251818.0)

There is already a lot of drama around that issue and the candidates to replace him, better order some popcorn.

How about TMAN? Wasn't he a merit source?
He's been in active for close to 3 months now.

Last sent merits: February 21, 2020, 12:00:08 PM
Last post: February 23, 2020, 04:40:29 AM
Last Active: March 12, 2020, 07:29:28 AM

I support his decision, it looks better for him and for his local community. I used to think that he abused merit before and I was wrong there. I can understand the pressure he suffered when he was in a community where most of the bad allegations were directed at it. It can also be pressure from the people in that community  :D

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In the way I see, he is a source of merit, but he disappears without a reason (Covid-19). Also many other users gone, but TMAN is my biggest concern right now.

Wow you think TMAN is dead.

Then where is TMAN.
Is TMAN swallowed by the earth, or struck by lightning, because of the words and curses that he says every day here....

I doubt he's dead. If it was the case the we would have known already through a couple of friends who can contact him.
My guess is that he probably just decided to either take a break or move on with life outside the forum.

What's making me wonder thou is after how long does an inactive merit source cease to become one?

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Is that your wish?

curse.
What you say every day that will happen, also for you.

then.....

Looks like total merit generation is also decreased from 21671 to 21171 (reduced by 500), assuming total merit generation stats at 21671 between tranthidung posts and Blacknavy demotion.


I prefer beef up existing and active MS, but why not both? Some MS might be inactive or less active than usual.

In the List of open merit source applications (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5197548.0), the oldest application is from 03/01/2020, that's six months ago, Theymos prolly doesn't want to add new MS just yet, we would see if he will soon.
If that's so, this MS's 500 smerits allowance can be distributed amongst the most active merit sources to boost their own allowance, till theymos maybe picks a new guy, that's a way to beef them up on smerits.

I know that theymos is the only one that accept merit source applications. But I think it's been a while since he add up new merit source applicant/s. There are tons of applications pending for months, so I was thinking maybe theymos was fed up with other works here (technical,advertise section, and etc) to entertain it. Or Im guessing that the applicants didnt pass his qualification but I doubt it. There are some really good applications on this LIST Open Merit Source Applications,waiting list. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5197548.0)

There are currently 97 trusted MS according to this https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

So I am thinking if this is possible, if those 97 merit sources can have an opportunity to vote and decide which application/s should be granted an opportunity. Those current merit sources were handpicked by theymos so I guess he trust the judgement of these people to look out for potential one too.

But this suggestion is okay too (the first one) but its cool to have new merit source too on appropriate boards ( where we used the voting process I suggested)

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_{Just a suggestion guys.}

I am waiting to see the new landmark of having merit sources more than 100 soon.Actually applications who are pending should be accepted by judgement.

Again we need more merit sources who cares about Newbies and Jr. Member at least.
Because they know the value of Merits the best.

You just have to look at this thread, [TOP-200] Members who support newbies - Thanks! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5034141.0). Not just merit sources, but members who give merits to newbies that deserves it.

I think if there are no new merit source to replace Blacknavy, then merit allocations should increase specially for those active merit source for distribution.

Not to any active Merit Source, but rather, with all the necessary screening that it may need, one/more new/old covering similar boards of interest (in this case, the Turkish bocal board). 500 Merits is quite a blow, especially when the Turkish local board received 91,26% of them (on aggregate overall) – almost a third of the monthly distribution on that board (dramas aside):

https://public.tableau.com/shared/T82W5FHBP?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
https://public.tableau.com/shared/4F4ZSK6D4?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link

I don't think he died, I think he had covid-19 and was on treatment with it. Somehow, it takes a long time but he is still not cured. Very likely, who knows  ::)

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I wonder who will decide if I have to choose a new source of merit? I have read through the criteria to apply as a source of merit, but who will decide to choose one of them  ??? I am quite vague about it

I assume the admins are ones who appoint new merit sources.

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Apart from the criteria of being a somewhat established member and ability to discern quality posts, merit sources are also appointed based on the boards they frequent, while no merit source is restricted to a certain board, a drop in merit circulation in a particular section may require the attention of a source.

Judging by the "we" that theymos uses, its quite likely that Cyrus, and theymos decide on who is made a merit source. That at least would be my assumption. Alternatively, global moderators might be pitching it, but I would say the most likely is theymos, and then cyrus. Especially, since they're likely the only ones with access to important statistics of users such as logged in time, time spent within sections, and amount of posts read in particular sections. I imagine they use either the data I've listed or some sort of data along with checking merit distribution, and the "quality" of the merit distribution.

Thank you for this answer, it's more clear now  :D
I guess that reputation on the forum is also important fact and probably theymos and Cyrus read carefully reactions of other members.

Wow, this is also quite subjective  :D Suppose someone wants to become a source of merit, but they don't have much merit to distribute before, so their history of distributing merit seems to be empty. It means that only those who regularly receive merit can apply to become another source of merit. On the other hand, the quality of distribution is also difficult to evaluate, because according to theymos, merit is distributed according to each person's thinking, there is no real standard to evaluate it.
Huh? What's up, guy! I'm the one asking the question, but you're here to thank  ::)

While there is no general standard when it comes to merit distribution, there is a general idea of what quality is, and which posts were made without any thought.
I would also think it is more about being active and taking out time to seek out posts to merit. There is no reward for giving out smerits and some choose to simply hoard it. But if a user regularly gives out merits when they come across deserving posts, and actually go in search of such posts, they will be good fits for sources (as you'll be giving a stash which exhausts after a certain amount of time)

I would guess this is were being a somewhat established member comes in. To establish yourself on the forum one would have to be relatively active and if they're good posters they'll pick up merits along the way.

@Blacknavy was a good merit source. Psychological pressures of a person dragged him to this decision. He showed a virtuous behavior and resigned. His gap needs to be filled. Valuable messages continue to be written in Turkish section.

Well of course, its a human that's reviewing the cases, and therefore there will always be the issue of being subjective. There might be a individual reason for distributing merit, but its fairly common sense to see if someone is abusing their merit distribution or giving merit as a way of "liking" someones comment rather than giving it because its a quality post. However, the admins (or perhaps just theymos) have far more data that they can evaluate than the average user, and therefore they can piece together a strong case of why someone should be a merit source, and why they shouldn't. Plus, being subjective isn't always a bad thing. theymos probably has a good idea of how he would like merit sources to distribute their merit, as of my assumption he was the one to implement the merit system, and therefore he definitely has some sort of view of how it should work.

There quite possibly may have been cases especially in the local section where users were given the merit source title without looking at their merit spending in great details, possibly because they're one of the most active users within their local section, but I'd say that the vast majority if not all are evaluated on how much they've spent, where they spend it, as well as how much they give per post.

Its similar to how the admins select users to become staff. They look at the data that is available to them, and then approach them. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is without gaining merit yourself, and distributing it there is no way of determining whether a user would be a good judge of quality posts, because as we all know just because a user is a good poster, doesn't mean they are a user suitable as a merit source. This doesn't necessarily mean they have a zero percent chance of becoming a merit source, it just might make it harder for them to be selected if there are other candidates with merit spending in similar sections of the forum.

I got your point. But sometimes I come across posts that make me say, "how does this trash deserve merit?" But if I screamed, many people would think I was selfish, someone once said that I should not complain about how others distribute merit, so the easiest thing was to just ignore it. I still keep my point that for some people, it deserves, some people think it doesn't. A general idea is something uncertain.
Well, I totally agree with your thoughts  :D I also think if someone sends merit regularly to other people or flips through the forum posts regularly, or in other words, is a member that is active on most sections, I think it will is a criterion to select a merit source  :D Anyway, it's just a curiosity   :P

I have no problem with the Turkish section getting another merit source (though it's not my decision anyway), but the current batch of applicants leaves me scratching my head as to whether they'd be the most appropriate choices.  For whatever reason, that section has some very vocal and very tribalistic members who don't seem to look at things entirely logically.

Anyway, the Turks will be fine until another merit source gets tapped for the local board (if that does in fact happen).  Given how persistent they are, my guess is that Theymos will find a replacement.

In general, we're lucky to have all the merit sources that we do.  It's not like it's a paid position, nor one that gets you any sort of thanks, praise, or even recognition.  I'm kind of surprised there haven't been more merit sources dropping out.

For now, the Turkish local board has still a few Merit sources left, I don't know all of them but at least EFS (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=140584) and Vispilio (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=982288) are active there. I don't have a complete overview but can't complain about their posting quality. In general, there is interesting content from what I've seen there when I was reading some content with Google translate a few times already.
A replacement of the previous Merit source Blacknavy would be a good idea, maybe it's also an option to split his 500 sMerit to two different users, 250 sMerit each. From what I've seen candidates could be dannybrown (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=509189) or Kalemder (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=487377) but it's only my biased point of view because I'm not a Turkish native speaker. Kalemder applied here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5183702.0), dannybrown didn't apply so far as I know.

Turkey is an important country for crypto and giving support to the local board is also beneficial for Bitcointalk.

I'm sure theymos will make a good decision based on posting quality, reputation and Merit distribution of each candidate.