The way to go about attaining Merit, is to construct quality posts that are well explained and logical/relevant.

For the life of me i cannot understand the fascination surrounding Merit, if it bothers you that much then i'm sure you'd have worked out by now how to get even a little bit? Your activity suggests you've been here quite a while so surely you must have seen a few posts that give you the WOW factor.

Look and learn from other people, if you REALLY REALLY wanted merit you'd be able to get it. Like anything in life- its a case of you just having to put the effort in and the reward will follow.

I post this as constructive criticism by the way, just trying to help you. Good luck

Before focusing on Merit, try and learn as much as you can so you aren't like a fish out of water.

 I have to be honest, i don't know half as much as some people here but i definitely feel i have something to contribute and i'm glad to participate in an active community where i read and learn something new everyday.

Don't get me wrong i'd like to get (more) merit too eventually, but i'm realistic enough to know its not going to happen overnight, so just keep looking/reading and learning.

One more tip here..... Read peoples posts who have merit- you'll soon understand why they got it. 

Thanks for your feedback, this post slipped through the net and never got any comments or looks, but its one that i think is often overlooked by a lot of people trading.

I've said before i don't day trade, unless there is an obvious breakout on the horizon coming when i check the daily. This method has worked for me for ages, and as and when the BTC price recovers a little i'm sure it will again. Swing trades always make more sense to me.

One more point i'd probably add is keep some spare BTC for when its like this so you can buy cheap! 

Hi jenia, do you have any contact details for "your friend" please? 

Good to hear the guys who've been here a while have chipped in here as i was curious to your opinions on this.

As another poster in this thread said - and i agree to a certain extent - is that if the price of altcoins fluctuate even more wildly than the price of BTC, then this will eventually sicken people who have invested in them. The altcoins respective team members can't fulfill their (possible) potential, and new investment in alts will suffer as a result and perhaps fail all together, which in turn affects the price of BTC (as you need BTC to buy alts). You could argue that BTC/alts both need each other to survive, sure- not all of them, Wankcoin, Trumpcoin et al are just a total joke really so a lot of these blatant scams need to disappear completely.

It's a real grey area, and not quite as cut and dried as some people think it is.  

Hi guys, just wondering about other peoples opinion on this.

In order for the world of Crypto to grow and be mass-adopted, do you think crypto needs to step out of the shadow of Bitcoin or do you think its the other way round and that people should scoop up Bitcoin and let it always rule the roost?

I only say this as any sort of negativity that Bitcoin receives, shouldn't really affect some promising projects and cryptos that are essentially doing their own thing and making their own progress- only to be pegged back by Bitcoin losing value!

Yes i understand that all cryptos are tethered to the price of BTC, but will it/should it always be that way?

I don't think anyone is going to point you directly to any bounty that you can participate in.

Just have a look and dig around the site, go to the places where the bounties etc are offered. Better still, check in every thread and you might learn something along the way too! 

#Joined Daox Airdrop

https://twitter.com/Crypto_chum

I think each case should be judged on its own merit. (pardon the pun!)

If the person is providing quality responses and contributing to the forum in a 'normal' fashion, trying to join in and genuinely here for the right reasons, then of course a signature campaign shouldn't influence someone's decision to award merits or not.

I find it fascinating that people would purposely overlook someone because of wearing a signature actually, i think its childish and akin to bullying almost. My take is, if you are here and you are active, contributing, looking and learning- you might aswell wear a signature right? You shouldn't be judged by someone because of what you're wearing! 

Just my opinion BTW.

You know what? This has been my fear for a long long time.

The EXACT same thing has crossed my mind many times. When the price of BTC goes sky high again- and it will, some of these exchanges are going to vanish. The same way some of these ICO's are vanishing with peoples hard earned cash.

No matter how big the exchange or how small, if they don't have the 'actual' bitcoin there with them- at all times- they are literally selling you dreams, and we are trading with thin air. I sincerely hope it dosent happen but i really wouldn't be surprised if it did.

One thing for certain though, it would be catastrophic for crypto in the long run. As investors confidence would be completely eroded.

Hi tuppyp and welcome! Nice first post.  

I'm still new around here too, and firstly i'd just invite you to have a look at the rules section at the top of the forum to familiarize yourself with the 'do's and dont's' around here. It'll help you avoid falling into any silly traps or pitfalls. Also its a pretty comprehensive guide of what is expected around here.

Get familiar with this place and have a good look around all threads, there's some brilliant information here, and regardless of how experienced you are in crypto, you'll learn something new here each time you visit. Stay busy and participate in conversations (where you can) and above all- stay positive and don't let the naysayers bring you down to their level.

If you need any help feel free to reach out!  

I'm not necessarily on about just strictly trading/day trading. I don't day trade personally, i know basic TA and its simply not good enough for me to be confident of making money on a regular basis. Swing trading seems to work best for me but its each to his own i guess.

I'm referring to networking, jobs within crypto, referalls etc etc. Other avenues to go down besides just trading.

It came as no surprise to me, that the people i know who gamble on horses and football etc, ended up coming in to crypto in late november/Early december, when the price of everything was through the roof!

If you're a gambler and sitting on the sidelines watching people make very easy money for doing very little, i totally understand why they got 'sucked in' to crypto. However,sadly, the very same people are the ones who got wrecked on the way down and now only have negativity about crypto. In doing so, giving Bitcoin/crypto a bad name and spreading bad vibes about it.

We don't need out and out gamblers in crypto. We need people to see its potential and future use case.

I thought i'd put this out there today and ask you all: Is there anyone who is making a full time living from Crypto/ working online?

I'm just curious to see who among us is lucky enough to be able to be in this full time? Perhaps share some tips or pointers with us all to see if we could achieve the same status! 

I'm not there yet, but i'd love to be! and i'm trying all sorts to see if i can make enough to cover my bills and then build from there i guess.

Would love to know your thoughts? Cheers

In times like this when the market has dropped, the best course of action is to take no action at all!

Ride the storm out rather than jump from coin to coin. It also helps if you have your money in decent coins/projects too, as with shitcoins there's less chance of bouncing back up. (in my opinion)

Hi Bruno,

Seen your post here and was just wondering what sort of positions you still have available? I'm from the UK, i'd say pretty good English skills,  if i'm honest my background isn't in computers, but I'm ok with tech. Mainly from a sales and service background, but can turn my hand to most things. Anyhow, just thought i'd reach out as nothing ventured-nothing gained! 

Hey HabBear, this is the problem that we-as newbies- face on here. I'm not being a wanker here but i am always open to debate.

Now you have to remember where i've posted this post, in the Newbies and Beginners section! So am i offering something new? Yes, yes i am. Not to everyone, but to some. I have no doubt that they might get some use from this post.

You're entitled to your opinion of course you are, as you have probably seen a million posts like this. I on the other hand- again, as a newbie-have not. I've seen very few decent posts at all. So in an attempt at improving overall quality i think its absolutely on topic and relevant, but that is just my opinion. If the seniors don't want this sort of thing then just say so, its fine honestly, i'll close my mouth and move on.

I'm only posting what seems to have worked for me thus far, but if its not what's required here then i'm not sure what is. Before you make assumptions though, if i could point you to my last post, i had some awesome replies from people who felt happy, motivated and keen to learn. If that's not what is needed round here then i really don't know what is.

I'm all for feedback, but i think you've got the wrong end of the stick here.

If you are going to go down this route, i'd be looking for a niche, or a find a niche within a niche that you particularly like.

I've been tempted to set a blog up myself, but let me tell you that you have some real serious competition in the crypto space. If you have good SEO skills i think that would be most helpful, if not you are going to struggle.

I'm not saying this to dissuade you, just be realistic with your expectations and be prepared to put the work in.

Can i firstly just say, this post is not an attempt by me to fish for merit. Infact, it could be counter-intuitive to award merit for this post, so use your own judgement here, and do as you see fit.

If you are a newbie here, you might find this helpful to clearly understand about how and why you would be awarded Merit for your participation on this forum. This is only my opinion by the way, i am not saying that i am the King of Merit by any stretch of the imagination. I just think a LOT of people here are lost when it comes it comes to this topic. Also i haven't been here for long, so if i post something that isn't factually correct then please let me know and i will edit the post accordingly.

There are a 2 main things i will cover here, one is why the merit system is VITALLY important to the site, secondly its how to go about gaining merit from your fellow members.

Merit on Bitcointalk

Since the inception of the Merit System, we have seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of posts about "how its unfair to newbies" or "you can't find something to talk about" or other generic excuses that people use when they are struggling to gain merit points. There's usually a fairly straightforward answer: your posts simply aren't meritable. You have no idea how many of these posts i have looked through, same old excuses, same old story. The common denominator over ALL of these posts is effort, though i will do another post on that at a later date.

What we need to understand here is, the Merit system has been put in place to protect the site. It's not about excluding you, or making you feel unwelcome, or discrimination. It's here because it NEEDS to be here to protect the integrity of the website.

I've recently made a few posts in the META section, to give an opinion from a newbie perspective, and if any of you have had a look in there you'd understand whats going on. We as a community are being swamped by people who are here for strictly financial gain only, they have no interest in contributing to the site whatsoever, no interest in learning anything about bitcoin or crypto, and are here solely for an income source. Now if people tell their friend they are making a good few bucks from here, and they tell their friend, and they tell theirs- you get the picture! You end up bogged down with masses of people who could potentially ruin this place for everybody.
If you want proof of this you just have to look at the Altcoin-announcement section where the bounties are. COUNTLESS pages of people participating there- yet the very same people can't be bothered to at least TRY and make a decent post or something worthwhile.

Eventually, because of this behaviour, it will end up diluting the quality of the website, diluting the quality of the bounties/airdrops etc, and above all- diluting the user experience on here as visitors grow tired of seeing the same old "please sir" "great project" posts every single day!

The Merit system is here to attempt to ELIMINATE the parasites among us (as a lot of bounties require higher ranks), and REWARD the people who contribute. That's all it is, its really not that difficult to see is it? You can argue all you like, but this is the simple reality.

So if you are here for the right reasons- great! There's plenty of help to get you going.

Gaining Merit from fellow members

If you've been here a while and you are scratching your head thinking its an impossible task to gain merit, first thing i would advise you to do is take a really good look at what you've posted since you've been here. Hand on heart- is the quality there? Is there anything useful there?

Then ask the question: Would YOU merit your own posts based on what you've just read? I expect the penny will drop when you realise what i am saying is true. Not good enough really is it?

Now not to go into too much detail here, but above all, what you should be doing is having a look at members who have a lot of merit and READ their posts! Understand why people give them praise for their posts. As soon as you see what others are getting merit for you will understand! There is one guy in particular called 1miau, have a look at his posts- outstanding! He has over 50 merit and is a NEWBIE! Learn from people like him.

Why make 20 crap posts when you could make a few GREAT posts? Put the effort in and reap the reward. You won't always get merited for it, i have made a few posts that i thought would be absolutely nailed on for merit and never got a sniff.   But don't let it get you down, just write some more.

Be consistent with your quality and it will get recognized eventually.

I am in a position now where i can give merit out, and when i see something worthy i'll give it- no hesitation. So just bear that in mind.

Ultimately, what we are trying to do here as a community is to increase the overall content quality and user experience. We can all play our part, but you have to put the effort in.

Anyway, thanks for reading, I'm thinking of writing a post with regard to how i compose my posts if anyone is interested, if so let me know and i will make it when i get some free time.

Thanks again.  

You have to take what people say with a pinch of salt, are these 'reviews' legit? Maybe?

I'd take a guess that they are just butthurt as they probably had a high ranking account here that got banned. 

As for it being hard to navigate!    Look, if you are in the crypto space and you can sign up to exchanges, make trades and know what you're doing with understanding sats, you can send coins from one place to another without a problem, then i am almost certain that you can navigate around an extremely easy to use forum without any problems, which again leads me to suspect that the people who leave these reviews are indeed full of shit.

I haven't been here long and i have found out loads of great information since i joined, iv'e actually had a few Eureka moments since i came here and discovered things I never knew.

Yes this place has its problems with scammers and cheats, but the Alexa ranking of this website is around the top 2000 in the world. Making it one of the most visited websites there is!

So we must be doing something well here right?