Bitcoin Forum

If you see a post looks lengthy and have good information but at end of it, poster leaves a source to a newsletter article, will you send merit to a poster?

Think:
- Fill up weekly post quota
- Try to copy & paste & source to earn merit
- Does a poster write about own opinion and discussion on the newsletter article?

I think about it after I see that topic (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5279803.msg55309422#msg55309422) and many newsletter article sharing posts were meritted and see another topic If you received a merit ... (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5280159.msg55320719#msg55320719)

If it's a mere copy-paste of everything, then no. I'd only probably give out a merit point if the posted at least gave out a good amount of his/her thoughts about the article or topic that's copy-pasted.

Here's a good example(humble brag alert, it was a topic by me :P): PSA: Most Stablecoins Can Be Frozen, Even in Your Own Wallets (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5204055)

It was a topic about an article by Eric Wall concerning the risks of stablecoins.

As you can see on my topic, I only copy-pasted a small portion of the article by Eric Wall, and the rest, it was pretty much all my thoughts on the topic. I think this is the right way of doing things rather than just copy-pasting everything(regardless if it the source was listed).

In my opinion, it's ok to copy paste an article as long as it was useful, informative and give credits to the real owner/source. Most of the good quality article in the has been flooded by many low quality article. So doing research and searching for it just to share it here was already commendable and deserve a merit. On the attached topic that you mention. The guy is just copy pasting random new article just fill his daily post quota.

It depends, as said by:@mk4.
If the article has good and useful information, especially for the general public, Merit will definitely....

That's for sure, what else the member has 100 accounts, in this Forum to spread in the sig campaign, not enough ideas come to mind, super fast alternative articles for weekly payments.

That's for sure, a week averages $50, at times 5 or 10 accounts, capitalized on articles and sources.

habit if opinion topics and posts based on articles from sources.
Basically:
Which makes the topic do not know what the purpose of the article information he posts.
If asked: what is it, how does it work, can you explain a little to us, he replied, you can read and see here, silly isn't it.

Definitely not, not because he did a trash post or whatsoever but because what he did is not merit worthy. I mean, we can considered it as a copy-paste at the end of the day. The source at the bottom of it only saves him to face consequences base on the rules of this forum. Such posts are helpful but not outstanding as well, it was neutral IMO :)

With regards to those who give merits on such kind of posts, it is not our business anymore. Each one of us have different criteria. It's their own choice so all we can do is to respect it. Maybe they just really appreciated the content that's why they gave one.

Asking if one would send merit may be the wrong question, as merit does not indicate approval of a post, you could rather ask if the community considers that to be healthy practice.
A copy and pasted post should be evident even before the reader gets to the source link. You can use the quote tags or insert it between "..." I personally change the text to italics sometimes to show it's taken from another source as quote tags can make a thread untidy especially when used multiple times.

This is possible and any user who regularly churns out public articles without adding any personal note or comment is trying to do the bearest minimum to complete their quota.

Some users may genuinely want to share quality contents with the community, some may be promoting their websites, so it is not always a merit grab attempt. However, such pure articles should be posted in the Press (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=77.0) board (if it is notbale enough), which doesn't get much attention or merits these days. Posting outside here may be an attempt to make it count to their weekly quota as some managers do not accept posts made there or the user could be trying to get more attention and a chance of getting merited.

I definitely think this; if done right, with effort, external articles can be used to create thought provoking discussions.

In regards to the initial part in your question:
- Length of a post shouldn't be a factor when giving Merits. A post can have only a few words and still contain useful/good information.

To address the question itself:
- Based on the above comments, it appears there's a grey area but personally, I wouldn't consider it a merit worthy post even if it was translated for local boards ^{[unless there's an added value of some sort]}.

• By meriting such posts, you're indirectly encouraging them to continue with that behavior and that results in most ^{[not all]} of these users using this forum for the wrong reason.

I'm not a fan of copy pasted articles even they do did mentioned the source.
Atleast the user that created the topic should made the article much easier to understand.
Sumarize it or he/she outlined the important parts of the article.
Lenghty posts, for me, are boring to read unless I'm interested to the topic and it's body really delivered smoothly and has been tackled very well.

I think everyone has some criteria of their own when it comes to merit rewards, so I'm sure there are forum members who will reward such posts, because in some cases it can really be about quality information that is not just for the purpose of meeting the daily/weekly quota of posts. Of course, those who do it constantly and with the intention of shilling some site will not get merit, but they will end up like many others who have gone that way.

What is valued above all on the forum is the original content, and c/p even with the source link, without any personal opinion is something that should not be rewarded in most cases.

Every users have own perspective on giving off merits. If the discussion opened by OP is interesting and also he has added a useful thought based on the relevant link he shared then of course I could send merits. But if the topic is purely been copied and only incorporate a few ideas ir merely sharing it. Maybe not. I prefer more own discussion topic that has been created by the OP rather than a copy paste link news article.

I want to disagree with you. The internet is vast and there are answers for almost any topic out there. And also there is a thread on the forum where it is allowed to post news. There, such posts will be more appropriate.
But basically, those who simply copy-paste the article, without covering their own opinion, are engaged in the elementary stuffing of posts. These can be of different intentions, perhaps a person is counting on getting merits, or he just fills in the quota for his subscription company.
In my opinion, such posts do not deserve special attention. Someone who writes such posts should think about it. It is ridiculous to think that he is the discoverer of an article not written by him with his own hand.

Let's get it straight to the point,

If you are bothered OP on rewarding merits then follow this simple advised from the admin that merits will be rewarded to posts that contributed help for the members and the forum itself. If you see a copy and paste posts and it is helpful then why not give merits? The decision is yours to make and no one can decide it for you when you will going to reward the posts with the merits you have. The admin of this forum lets you set your standard in giving the merits. It is all up to you to make a good use of it.

If your standard is high and you see a good posts but is just being copied and paste why give merits? You can reason out that the post was just being copied and paste so I will not give merits. It is very simple and should not bother you. It is just common sense and don't afraid to get bullied by other members here. They are not perfect too to make a good criticism. I had always seeing rude guys in their replies like seeing that they just wanted to dominate here like a Boss. Ignore and do not mind them and consider their critism is same as trash.

For some reason, this sounds like some telco plan ;D

But I agree that simply posting for Merits or not giving TLDRs is pretty low. Especially those long-ass contents. Who the hell has time to read through while working or on a lunch break?

Another creation of a person who regularly creates topics for beginners, copying articles, even if they have links to sources.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5281175.msg55350810#msg55350810

I can't figure out, maybe everyone needs to create similar topics? We will pull out everything from the Internet, from making soup to repairing tractors. The main thing is that there will be links, and this is no longer plagiarism. Is this content helpful?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5278938.msg55283678#msg55283678

Where do we go on such roads? Is there a solution to these things? Do such writers need to be noted in their trust?

I don't know but if something is very useful and well research, or an article that is really hard to find cause it didn't rank in SEO, Ican give one, specially if the OP provided a good insight about the article, or a good question that can start a healthy discussion here in the forum, it deserve one. Cause I wouldn't see that article if he didn't post it here. Forum is also a way for us to discover things that aren't seen in a google search bar. And ranking an article is hard, even thought the article is good, it won't rank right away. So it is really helpful if OP posted it here.

It's just me but I always know if the OP is concerned to educate other users or just here for the merits. It really depends on you if you think it's not helpful or anything. If OP sounds like sharing an article just for the merit. Then I wouldn't give one.

I have gone through the links you dropped at the first place, and i saw the complain about the user @bitcoinist, although, not every user is a an original good poster and so they try to cope/join in with their ability of bringing newsletter articles for discussion, therefore such behaviour shouldn't be rewarded with merit and if such user belongs to a campaign, then that user won't be paid but would not be banned as said by yahoo62278
If in the case of attaching some helpful personal thought about the article requesting for ideas and opinions, that would definitely be nice and rewarded with merits.

Personally, with merits, I reward someone’s effort and time invested in writing a post.
In fact, it’s important to me to see that this content can help someone or contribute to the community.
Copying someone else's content does not fit that criterion and I do not reward such content.

I agree with your opinion. It is not true to say all shared articles are useless but it is not wrong to say most of posters do this to make noise and hope to get merit.
If you know the forum, know bitcoin, cryptocurrency, you do know how to search and find what you need on Internet.

Posting regular is desirable as it shows your active and it's quite tempting that most users would want to post at every chance they get but sometimes, they are just out of what to say which makes them copy and paste articles. Sometimes it could be because, they are just so blown off by the contents of the article that they just don't wish to add anything to it and just copy and paste it. Well, the both is plagiarism and adding the source only helps you to evade ban but it doesn't change what you've done or make it better and isn't worthy of receiving merit.
Instead of a direct copy and paste with source, you can consider researching different and recent materials of value on your topic of interest, form it into a topic in your own words and post. Better still, should you get blown of by an article such that, you really don't wish to add to it, make an introduction and explain just a few concept about it as to why you just feel it's worth reviewing and drop the link. That way, I can think of meriting if need be.

I disagree, It takes mere minutes to find quality article, copy-paste and add source.

I see your reasons as to why you seem to agree with copy and paste so long as it comes with a source but, I still find it wrong. Copy and paste is frawned at not just because it robs the original poster of his credibility for his work of course, by posting the source you stand to remedy that but, why post a source when what is behind your source is exactly the same. or is it that you don't trust forum users to source for information not readily displayed on the boards so, you choose to rob them of their curiosity. This shouldn't be the case. There is no point in copying and pasting anything even with a source, it clouds the boards and the content wouldn't be better appreciated with the fact that, it's a direct replica of the source.

First of all this is my opinion and I never ask for your opinion. I explain already my point on why I consider it giving a merit and that's my final decision because I'm the one who will give the merit, Not you and the other guy who quoted my opinion above. We have different perspective on how we use our merit. Theymos release guidelines but we are not bound to strictly follow it because merit is unmoderated which means we can still do what we think is right.

Answering your explanation about source. Do you think it will be good to create a thread that contains the link of the thread alone?? You guys view the copy-paste thing that I mention literally. Of course the OP copy and put here the main point of the article alone and cutting all the small details. With that being said, the message here will be direct to the point on the subject matter.

I hope you guys comphrend first the logic of my post. I'm not interested on others point view on this subject matter because merit is unmoderated same as the trust system so obviously all possible comments here is very subjective. We have different perspective.

many post copy and paste but it's no longer relevant, modern times are still copy and paste, make sure what you share is your own, even though some of it is taken from other people's articles but it can be proven that the source is clear.

I agree with you that copying and pasting is very easy to find on the internet.

Gathering information from several sources is good and you conclude and you create one more solid article of your own.

If I notice a user just copy-paste directly includes ads of articles and simply add the link on the bottom of the post, then no, I will never send merit on such as a post. There should be included a few valuable and constructive discussions by OP, then I might consider to send merit if the post is useful for me or for the community. Those users practice this thing, I doubt most of them have an alt account which has been doing a signature campaign. But good thing is, a few managers don't accept such as posts for weekly payments. I think when all managers will do the same thing then users will leave such as behavior. I someone wants to share news, then simply he can paste the link only with a title. So if someone is interested to read then they might proceed. No need to copy-paste the whole article.

Random thoughts

With the article from coindesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio, I takes the first paragraph and want to ask you ways to copy and paste it at best.

---

The first way is copy and paste a paragraph with a link at the end.

Bitcoin’s options market is in the midst of its strongest bullish sentiment on record as the cryptocurrency rallies to three-year highs.

The six-month put-call skew, or the spread between prices claimed by put options and call options expiring in six months, fell to a life-time low of -21.6% early Thursday, according to data source Skew.

A call option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put option gives the right to sell.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio

The second way is to insert the paragraph in quote blocks.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio

What do you like? The second way clearly shows all the words and all the paragraph is not my words.

Although two ways are acceptable (with links, they are acceptable), I like the second way as it clearly shows I don't try to hide which words are mine and which words are copy-paste. The first way can be used to fake that I am writing a quality post.

Should quote block is mandatory if you copy and paste many words (when total words are 100 or 200). Paraphrase is only accepted if you do it with short paragraph. If the paragraph is long, paraphrase is not accepted. I feel it can be applied to copy and paste. Too long, please use quote block.

'bitcoinst' abusing signature campaign with alt account & spamming by copy-paste (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5279803.0)

I will give merit if it's an important news article which I might not have found even if it's from a news source.

If an article is readily available on public domain, then that user wouldn't have posted it in the first place. If they did, that means they are making it easier for to find the useful information early and if it's valuable information I'll give merit.

But, if it's readily available and a news that is really not important then I'll just ignore the post.

Hi iamsheikhadil. Do you think I discussed about merit?  ???

Your post is off topic. I did not discuss merit in today post. I discussed ways to copy and paste and do not abuse it to fake quality.

A Guide to Plagiarism and Paraphrasing (https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/online-learning/plagiarism-and-paraphrasing/)
The forum has a quote block and it can be used rather than quotation marks.

If you makes a book, you can not copy and paste (or steal) all chapters, word by word from another original book. Print it and simply put the original author name or link to original article. Purdueglobal's article says it is Verbatim plagiarism.

The second option is better. I usually put copied text into quote brackets and use italicized or in some cases bolded fonts if I want to highlight a certain part of the text for more attention.

Regarding your question of meriting posts containing only info from press releases and other media.
I almost never do that. It would have to be something very helpful or useful for me personally or the community to be merit-worthy. A copy-pasted article seldom is. If it was posted in the local forum and translated and made to fit a certain language, the user made some effort at least.   

I would go even step further and say that 2nd option should be the only one accepted here. Since bitcointalk already has strong stance towards plagiarism and verbatim copying without proper quotation is generally seen as such, it should be enforced here as well. I don't say that people should be  immediately banned over this, but it should be seen as low value post if done excessively and dealt in appropriate manner. That way people would start using quotation marks properly, and eventually amount of useless c/p posts and topics would go down.

Now question is, why people don't bother with that? It is probably due few different reasons:

• Some want to appear more knowledgeable than they really are, and when you put something in quotation marks, it is obvious that it's not your original thought.
• Ignorance. I am pretty sure that quite a few of those doing that don't even know about proper way to deal with direct copying from external source.
• Poor/mediocre English level. Sentences look much better when copied directly and then just link shared at the bottom of the post instead of  trying to write something of your own.
• Merit farming. This tactic can be very successful as people don't really care about these things when they share the merit.
• Last but not the least, filling up signature quota. What's easier than copying something without adding personal comment?

Direct copy/paste should be clearly visible from the moment you start reading the post, as simple as that.


If it was just c/p article (or part of an article) without some personal comment about the issue, I won't merit it, simply because I don't want to encourage that kind of laziness, and by meriting low effort posts that's what we do. As @Pmalek said, it would have to be something incredibly important to me to merit such post, and even then I would think twice.

They try to fake quality by ignore quote brackets or quote blocks put link at the end and write a few words (that shorter than what they copy and paste) to legalize post. I did not know the Verbatim plagiarism after I search with Google and see that article.

Even link is provided, it is verbatim plagiarism.

I made a thread last year titled Plagiarism as a result of cultural differences. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5096849.0)
The thread is based on an article that talks about the different stances that different cultures have on plagiarism issues. In the US, plagiarism is a big no-go in academic circles. In other parts of the world, those less educated have different views on the matter and might not understand why it is an issue at all.   

It's all a matter of personal preference, what is important to show unequivocally what the user wrote himself, and what does not belong to him and comes from some other source. I personally use the following option where text is in the quote, and above is the source.

In my viewpoint, if the copy-paste newsletter is quite educative and informative and it has a source link. I find no offense to merit the post.
Remember, merits are been given out when a wonderful post is made or share with

After that post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5280236.msg55596031#msg55596031), I am not discussing about merit with copy paste topic.

What you brought to the discussion with this post is not exact.