Where the Merit Pours?

[zentdex]

Where the Merit Pours?

Hello fellow members!

Frequent questions are asking for thread or section which received most of the merit.  Thus, I created this based on theymos merit txt logs issued last March 1.

Here you go: https://bitcointalk.org/merit.txt.xz
Similar to trust.txt.xz, it'll be updated weekly. It will show only the last 120 days of data; someone else should archive the old ones if you want them.
I am especially interested in analyses of this data which could point to sub-communities where the initial sMerit is exhausted and new sources are necessary, and people who might be good merit sources.
Edit: Note that for a little while I had user_to and user_from as names, but I decided to change it to IDs.

There are 37,939 Merit logs in the dataset which pinpoint to 11,318 (29.83%) unique thread. That means most of the time (70%) merits are given to a thread with existing merits.
Below is the result of thread per section which received merit in any part of it either to the original post or post reply of members.

This show that most of the merit where been sent in the threads inside the Local section, but the highest number of merits was being sent in Economy section. On the other hand, Other section received the highest average merit per thread. Additionally, there are threads which I can’t retrieved and presume those are deleted post.

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I categorize each thread to One Page thread which consists of less than 20 replies, Short Thread with 20-500 replies and Long Thread with more than 500 replies.

Number of Merit per Thread per Category

Based on the table above it is remarkable that a longer thread tends to accumulate more merits.  I include here the list of threads who received the max merit per category. Just a reminder, merits includes merit received by the main post and replies; the data was captured last March 1 and may be different at the time of this posting.
One Page Thread – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2895261 Deleted Post
Short Thread – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2827596
Long Thread - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178336


Members who give Merit per Thread

The result is synonymous to the previous table. It is so amazing to see a single page thread with 59 users that give merit inside it, but unfortunately that post was been deleted.
One Page Thread – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2895261 Deleted Post
Shot Thread - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2820637
Long Thread - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178336

___________________________________________________________________________

I didn't want to seem inquisitive, but I browse thru each board for each section and found the following results.

Bitcoin Section

There are so many thread that received merit in the Bitcoin Discussion board it also received the most number of merit in a single thread. On the other hand, there are less than a hundred threads in the Project Development board who received merits.
Below are the list of topics which accumulate most of the merits.

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Economy Section

In this section Marketplace got the most number of thread with merits while the maximum merit in a thread can be found on Economics board.
Below are the list of topics which accumulate most of the merits.

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Other Section

Most of use expected this, the most number of merits pour on to the Meta board. It is also the board with threads got the most accumulated merit. Some even suggest creating a Merit board, but some say this could be temporary because soon people will get usual of merits. On the other hand, there are seven threads in Archival which received merits, I check one of that and it really helps.
Below are the list of topics which accumulate most of the merits.
 

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Alternate cryptocurrencies

Announcements and Altcoin Discussion seems to get equal share, but Announcements got much more higher number of topics with merit and average merit for a thread. 
Below are the list of topics which accumulate most of the merits.

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Local Section

The result above shows that Russian board lead the most number of threads with merits. While German board received the highest in terms of Average merit.
Below are the list of topics which accumulate most of the merits.

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Overall I see that Merits are distributed in every corner of the forum, even to those archival board and also to local board with the lesser amount of threads. I see no section or board that got zero merits, but we cannot deny the fact that there are sections that got most of the merits. I see most of the member Respect and Merited Satoshi for what he has started; two among his topics got the most merit in each board. infofront with his Wall Observer BTC… topic accumulate most of the merits. Which I think shows that we prioritize bitcoin price movement most of the time. And of course, the topic Merit & new rank requirements by theymos prove that the Merit System is efficient, agreed upon by most of the members and widely disseminated down to Local boards and in every corner of the forum.

Again, this is not an official stat; some may have found it quite confusing or misleading thus I am always open to comments and suggestion. I may miss some or many part of the analysis, but I know you could help me draw more conclusion. I hope this post answer most of your questions. Thank you for your support.

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[FlightyPouch]

This is great and even before this chart is posted, I've been thinking that Local Boards should be really the boards that got the most given merit since the members using their own language can create good and constructive posts rather than pushing themselves outside that board where they can't really contribute. But I am wrong.

Never thought that the economy section will get the highest max merit given since I never thought that people are reading the posts of the members there.

[Tyrantt]

Ah those russians and turks. It almost seems like the [ANN] threads are being merited by default. Tho a good number of those posta made in local boards were merit trades. Maybe I'll make the similar post to this one but for merit trading. 

[rlim475]

Really great thread. It's no surprise to see Meta coming out on top. It also shows that it really pays to speak a second language with how many merits are about in the local sections.

May I ask why you didn't include a table showing the average per thread and such for the economics section like you did for all of the other sections?

[jointherevolution]

Nice data, it must have taken a long time to gather. This is a thread that deserves many merits.

[elena_rose19]

Very informative thread! Nowadays merit is really a big thing here in forum, so it's essential for me to read posts like. Bottom line is merit is shared every where in this forum just have to got enough knowledge to share to everyone.

[langongbachieu]

Thanks for great topic about merit statistics, bro. However, you should correct it a little bit. Please edit deviation to standard deviation. It will be more correct with the term (standard deviation, not deviation).

[vosicuoicung559]

Thank you Zentdex. You should add statistics for average/ median merit points received for each topics in different boards in the forum.

[cabalism13]

What a nice thread you have here and although some are only conclusions, I really cant hardly suggest the tracking of every data collected from this forum because it will be a hassle to do even though you have so much time to spend on it.
Updating this thread every week may also give you a hard time but you can atleast twice a week or once per month.
Thanks for the informations, this will be notified as an easy understanding on how the Merits being distributed to this community.

[KendiMint]

Informative I will visit those thread. A clickable table of top merit thread is more useful OP?

[DaftAjax]

Overall, I could say that these are very informative infographs. I could really conclude that the Merit System is working as expected, and are being used. So those people who always complain about the Merit System, and having a hard time getting Merits, they should visit this. I'm sure they will realize that they are the only ones who are complaining about it. Most of us are being grateful to the System, that the Rank is not just a title but a worthy title.

Based on the infographs, especially in the local boards. I've noticed that the Russian board, seems to be spending a lot of sMerits there, very suspicious indeed.

[HabBear]

Those Russians love to "spend" their merit on their comrades!

The next bit of analysis should be to translate those Russian posts that have received merit to assess how little one has to write in Russian to get 5, 10, 20, 50 merit!

If Theymos restricted merit spending in the Local board do you think we could minimize the opportunities for people to give merit to their alts or friends without, ummm merit?

Maybe people should be allowed to spend how they want.

To the OP, can you produce a chart that shows merit spend over time (daily), how much merit is spent each day? by which boards? I'd like to see the spending, i.e., economy, of this merit system.

Thank you!

[MainIbem]

This is a well thought out post. Quality analysis and graphical representations of fact. Great job.

[Naitik]

Why Russians have the maximum merits as well as Turkish???
Do there are less numbers of Russians and Turkish people in the forum??
This may be the only possible reason.
Can you tell me about this.

Thanks for this information keep it up.

[athanz88]

Well i have made this kind of thread giving some statistic from a valid data which i gathered my self from my thhread and from QA merit activity, i am proud of my work back then,but your work in these, i would say that your job is remarkable, very interesting, and a solid valid data given out to people about merits, and it answer some of people question and statement like
1. Only meta section getting merits
2. Local board didnt gives merits
3. Dumpster board wont gives you any merits
4. Etc
Wonderful job man. I guess this kind of thread can make a lot and good discussion between members, and one thing that you can consider to add in the OP is the links to the thread youve stated or maybe some example of the post that got merit in the thread.

Thank you.

[greeklogos]

What A great job done! If I would still have sMerits I would reward it as well. I think this thread should be fixed on the top of Meta section (cause of here all merit topics discussed exactly here) to work as teaching aid for newbies and for everybody who search support about merit.

[zentdex]

This is great and even before this chart is posted, I've been thinking that Local Boards should be really the boards that got the most given merit since the members using their own language can create good and constructive posts rather than pushing themselves outside that board where they can't really contribute. But I am wrong.

Never thought that the economy section will get the highest max merit given since I never thought that people are reading the posts of the members there.

Really great thread. It's no surprise to see Meta coming out on top. It also shows that it really pays to speak a second language with how many merits are about in the local sections.

Thank you for your appreciation.
In my opinion speaking thru local language will increase the understanding and agreement level of members thus increasing the chance to get merit.
I think Economy section got so many merits because of the Marketplace, there are merits given away thru Q&A and the like, which I found good and helpful.

Ah those russians and turks. It almost seems like the [ANN] threads are being merited by default. Tho a good number of those posta made in local boards were merit trades. Maybe I'll make the similar post to this one but for merit trading. 

That's great, just send me a PM if you need some hand for doing that.

May I ask why you didn't include a table showing the average per thread and such for the economics section like you did for all of the other sections?

I have those table, maybe it didn't load well. Kindly try to refresh the browser to see the images.

Nice data, it must have taken a long time to gather. This is a thread that deserves many merits.

Thank you for your appreciation.
theymos provide most of the data.

Thanks for great topic about merit statistics, bro. However, you should correct it a little bit. Please edit deviation to standard deviation. It will be more correct with the term (standard deviation, not deviation).

Thank you for your appreciation and suggestion.
I'll add the word Standard next time.

Thank you Zentdex. You should add statistics for average/ median merit points received for each topics in different boards in the forum.

Thank you for your appreciation and suggestion.
That could be manageable but it will be a super long post which I doubt most people will not hesitate to read.

What a nice thread you have here and although some are only conclusions, I really cant hardly suggest the tracking of every data collected from this forum because it will be a hassle to do even though you have so much time to spend on it.
Updating this thread every week may also give you a hard time but you can atleast twice a week or once per month.
Thanks for the informations, this will be notified as an easy understanding on how the Merits being distributed to this community.

Thank you for your appreciation and suggestion.
Yes, it will be so hard to update it frequently, but I think I could do a monthly stat.

Informative I will visit those thread. A clickable table of top merit thread is more useful OP?

Thank you for your appreciation and suggestion.
I never thought of that, I suddenly scratch my head after reading your suggestion. I'll try it next time if time provides.

Rank is not just a title but a worthy title.

Thank you for your appreciation.
I agree with you by that.

To the OP, can you produce a chart that shows merit spend over time (daily), how much merit is spent each day? by which boards? I'd like to see the spending, i.e., economy, of this merit system.
Thank you!

Thank you for your appreciation.
And that is a very good suggestion. I will put it top of my list!

Actually, I can analyse and make interesting charts using time series analysis if I have data. Raw data from Theymos is not enough, and I don't know how to get more data from the forum.

I think I could also analyze more clearly if I have your skills.
can you PM me those analysis methods you think about.

This is a well thought out post. Quality analysis and graphical representations of fact. Great job.

Thank you for your appreciation.

Why Russians have the maximum merits as well as Turkish???
Do there are less numbers of Russians and Turkish people in the forum??
This may be the only possible reason.
Can you tell me about this.

Thanks for this information keep it up.

They got more thread with merits that others.
As of the moment I don't have number of members belong or post to those boards, sorry about that. I'll try to include those next time.

Wonderful job man. I guess this kind of thread can make a lot and good discussion between members, and one thing that you can consider to add in the OP is the links to the thread youve stated or maybe some example of the post that got merit in the thread.
Thank you.

Thank you for your appreciation.
Your the second one to suggest it so I'll better do that next time.

What A great job done! If I would still have sMerits I would reward it as well. I think this thread should be fixed on the top of Meta section (cause of here all merit topics discussed exactly here) to work as teaching aid for newbies and for everybody who search support about merit.

Thank you for your appreciation.
A simple thank you will suffice.

[SergiuDemerji]

Thank you for sharing this information . For me now is more clear where i must post because since i start being active user of bitcointalk i didnt received any merit point . But i think i deserve at least some point for some of my post where i spend at least one hour to write it . But not complaining just keep writing with hope what someone will send me some merit points at least to feel what what i`m writing is interesting and people are reading and appreaciate. Here is one of my post just i want to hear opinion what i did wrong
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3103449.msg32045858#msg32045858

Cheers and good luck

P.S. Thank you for your article

[AhmadM]

An informative thread and great infographic calculation. I think meta section is received the most of merit since the merit system applied to the forum. Maybe you can update this thread monthly or weekly (if possible).
Really awesome work, good job

[Jet Cash]

Here is one of my post just i want to hear opinion what i did wrong
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3103449.msg32045858#msg32045858

The first point is that it is on the alt boards, and I don't read those. That's just an explanation as to why I hadn't seen it.

It is too long, and it appears to cover a variety of topics. It might be better to focus on one aspect, and to concentrate on the salient facts.

Also, I foind you english hard to follow, and this was a bit of a deterrent, and I'm sorry, but I didn't read the bulk of the post.

[ericunc95]

A really nice post.  Love all of the analysis and graphics.  If I had sMerit, I would have definitely given you some for your time and dedication on this analysis and write up.

[Shamie1002]

Good statistics there mate. Very helpful and I thought I could just assume where merits are given the most.
Before, I thought that merits were not given in local board at all and only in threads like meta and serious thread only. Some are actually suggesting for a merit source in local boards which I think may or may not be a good idea. I think local boards will be prone to spam and shit posts again if they would know that merits will rain there too. I may be a good idea contrary to the first one because, native language is the best language you can use to express a point or explain to others what you know.

[andreijoaquin]

Very informative topic that really deserves a merit. I did not much look into local boards since my focus is on bitcoin discussion, gambling and economics. Maybe I should try going in my local boards and see if I can earn merits there. I wanted to rank up and I feel that it is quite impossible for me to earn the required merits.

[vit05]

So the topics where the greatest amount of merit is distributed are those whose main subject is the merit system. This occurs mainly in boards of other languages and in Meta.

But I think that's a reaction because it's a new system. Probably, the distribution will be focused on utility. That is, if a message is useful to me, I will reward the author with merit. This would be something different from what happens with the upvote, the scarcity of something transforms the way people use it.

[mobilazy]

Incredible and eye-opening data! I thought Meta thread is in Top3 of the places where people get and receive merits. Hell, it looks like whole "Meta" should be renamed as "Merit" based on the content I'm glad that it is not true and you show this in such a clear way. This forum is mainly about the bitcoin and it is fair that quality content about bitcoin is getting rewarded. Faith in humanity restored!

[Quickseller]

It almost seems like the [ANN] threads are being merited by default.

I think this is evidence that users are giving merit to posts/threads regarding things they either support, agree with, or are in line with their agenda.

There are a few members that are putting a lot of effort into finding members who have a legitimate desire to learn about (and discuss) bitcoin, and giving them merit, however in many other cases, users are giving merits to posts that in one way or another benefit the person giving the merit. I think this will add to more groupthink, and less challenges to popular ideas. Some of this may be a side effect of the air-drop of merit that everyone received, I am not really sure as of yet.

I would be interested in seeing similar analysis only taking data from merit sent in a 4 week period starting ~a month from now, which would likely remove most of the effect of the sMerit air-drop.

[DAOfan]

Thank you for this information. It does actually bring to light some things about merit that might help the mods on this forum make the merit program more effective.

It looks like traditionally spam-filled sections of the forum are getting the least merit, which is a good thing. I hope that you will do another one of these analyses in a couple months and let us know if things have changed! It would be great news if spam is reduced and also those areas start getting posts worthy of merit. I think there is a lot of great altcoin discussion comments that currently get lost in the shitposts. Without a doubt the Hero/Legendary crowd know better than to waste their team reading there.

[HBKMusiK]

It seems that the merit system really does its job properly, I have noticed countless posts about how it is seen as a negative because new users simply want to climb in rank without contributing to the growth of the bitcointalk.I applaud you for the initiative and for the work done, besides that I awarded you
with a merit.Btw, I was really surprised when I saw my thread here.

[Taki]

It seems I have found the reply on my request from the previous topic that I commented https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3015036.msg33397789#msg33397789  But if to join all those graphics, doesn't it seems to you that the biggest number of merits are circulating between copper members?

[cryptothief]

In depth analysis there, fair play to you, that must have taken some time to put together. Interesting to see how the merit spreads out, although I think the first few months will be heavily skewed as the forum adapts to the novel/confusing/improved new format.

I'll finish with a quote that I remember from my school days that puts in all in perspective (had to google the source though).

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Benjamin Disraeli/Mark Twain or possibly any number of others to whom the quote has been attributed.

[ad_playing]

Salute to you zentdex....Now I see a real outstanding quality post and deserved to be given merit..your posting can be a reference for others in this forum including me

[AdoboCandies]

This is what you call a post high quality and very informative thread atleast our country have lots of merits, there is lot of good quality posts in our country forums but they wont give it merits at all i didnt know if they know about smerits or they didnt want to share it at all.

[Alone055]

Nice thread!
I wonder if they have more valuable discussions in Local boards or it is just the people that are too friendly to each other (I indirectly mean they trade them).  

[Moiyah]

This is what you call a post high quality and very informative thread atleast our country have lots of merits, there is lot of good quality posts in our country forums but they wont give it merits at all i didnt know if they know about smerits or they didnt want to share it at all.

Lol. I, once posted in our local boards and I agree it seems they are very selective in giving which post shall it deserve to be merited. But I believe moderators in our local boards are aware of that and they are not that very selfish to give smerits. Infact, I still received merit there. Informative post are well appreciated by our fellow country men.

As much as I wanted to express some informative posts in our local boards, like you I'm also hesitant and will save more courage to do that again.

For the OP, your post is highly constructive and very useful and interesting information you got there. Your infographs showed us how merits were distributed in different areas of the forum as well as it gives us encouragement as to where to put constructive posts. Your efforts are well appreciated.

[ruthbabe]

Very interesting post indeed. It's very informative too and really deserves to be merited. I'd really like to leave merit even 1 but I have 0 sendable merits. But don't worry I get your post link and I will give it to those generous members looking for posts to be merited.

[palle11]

I can't move away without appreciating nice and hard work. This kind of work is worthy to emulate in other spheres of the forum not only in the case of merit. This forum has really got members thinking and innovative. Good work OP.

[STT]

Here is one of my post just i want to hear opinion what i did wrong
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3103449.msg32045858#msg32045858

The first point is that it is on the alt boards, and I don't read those. That's just an explanation as to why I hadn't seen it.

It is too long, and it appears to cover a variety of topics. It might be better to focus on one aspect, and to concentrate on the salient facts.

Also, I foind you english hard to follow, and this was a bit of a deterrent, and I'm sorry, but I didn't read the bulk of the post.

Maybe he has edited it since but seems readable enough and ok points made about the background to a price on various factors.    Not that I feel massively compelled to give merit there but if I find the poster is brand new but has made a reasonable post, put effort into it and is below 10 merit as in this case then Im far more likely to award merit.   I think thats the point of the system partly, 'what we're supposed to do'.
  Most of the merit I give without thinking is often to other Legend members just because they are way more likely to post something in my own line of thinking but actually those guys dont need it so I feel obliged slightly to give some to the new members who actually make an effort.

Also good job by OP

[Woterry]

If you’re eager to post with quality and want to rank up badly from “chill” post to “work hard” posts. This is the eight chart to begin with. I myself wanted to achieve many here in the forum, never knew where to start or what to post. But I also didn’t expect this post. Studying and browsing can be really helpful to us here in bitcointalk, and nothing’s more helpful than this data gathered for people who want to work hard posting with quality. Props to you good sir. Good luck to all of us.

[Piggy]

Here is an interactive graph i made which you can use to browse the merit distribution for all the sections of the forum till the thread that received the merits, i just updated it:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3312945

[Cashwave]

A very informative piece. Even though I am still trying to understand the merit system, your post is like a light that fell on a dark spot.....I will have to read it over again for a clearer picture. Thanks for your effort. unfortunately I don't have any sMerit yet to give.

[tranquynhtien]

Here is an interactive graph i made which you can use to browse the merit distribution for all the sections of the forum till the thread that received the merits, i just updated it:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3312945

Nice work, Piggy!
Your interactive graph makes reader easily to find where are the most circulated places of merits in the forum.
Furthermore, could you adjust it a little bit for readers to see correlations between boards in the forum, in terms of merit exchanges. Something like how many merits exchanges between users in serious boards and shitty boards (due to massive spamming) like altcoin bounties.
Thanks.