IS THE MERIT SYSTEM being used correctly by a small clique of individuals here

[cryptohunter]

I am wondering about 2 things on this forum regarding merit.


1. that high merit receivers are not those that have contributed the most to this board and the spirit of decentralised trustless projects.

(that is not what I want to study in this thread but that the first thing I want to make clear that I believe and that people should investigate full post histories to get an idea of the person they are dealing with)


2. That high merit receivers/givers are circle jerking and backslapping each other and not seeking out lower rank members who are worthy of merit to enable them to legitimately move up ranks.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SAi_b3umCcFJO2dMoLYjWCjNz1JhOLWrsRHhYQK-nb8/edit?usp=sharing

this to me can be the source of much discussion.... probably almost the most revealing merit guide here if you can interpret it well.


this was provided by r1s2g3
on this thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5067161.0


Who here can provide some analysis of this for presentation.


I would like to analyse the top 50 merit receivers on this board and see if the majority of their merit comes from other members of that 50.

We could drill that down to the top 25 or expand to the top 100.

I would be interested to see the results.

I have never taken much interest in this part of the board but due to some strange deletes lately, also due to some strange decisions I see happening in here and on the reputation board. I worry there is forming here a clique that is starting to act with impunity and in an unfair manner. This is not in the spirit of decentralisation and trustless arena we are trying to create.

I would also like to see which boards get the most merit action. This is very important too.

I am not encouraging discussion here of ANYTHING outside the scope of this OP. Anything other than the analysis of the merit given and received by the top 100 or less is OFF TOPIC.

This is not a thread that should really garner much opinion until the statistics are compiled and presented. Then we can discuss what it all means.

Who can whip up some nice charts to graphically visualise this??

This is not an accusation of wrong doing this is simply an exercise to see how the merit system is working out thus far.

[1713522573]

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[Alex_Sr]

...

These statistics are already collected Most Merited Profiles. Thanks for this Vod

[cryptohunter]

...

These statistics are already collected Most Merited Profiles

I see only those that have the most merit.


That does not show me who is awarding the top 50. I want to see if the top 50 is mostly awarding itself.

Or am I not seeing where this comparison and analysis can be looked at on that website?

I would like to also apply that to the top 100 and right down to the top 10.

[Alex_Sr]

...

Most generous merit senders, all time - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=topsendat

Can compare these lists by the number of matches...

[Jet Cash]

Well the first thing to point out is that this forum is not a decentralised project. It has a standard hierarchy of officials and members. It may be that many members support decentralisation and are anti-globalisation ( but not all ). If this hierarchy did not exist, then it would be mayhem here, and the forum would be useless in my opinion.

Your other point that merit awarding may be abused is a topic that has been discussed in many threads. I'm sure there is a certain amount of abuse of the system, but Theymos has been fairly careful in his selection of merit sources, and their activities are under constant scrutiny by the forum statisticians.Your assumtion has a fairly obvious basis. Longer standing members will be more comfortable with their posting, and most will be able to contribute more to the forum based on their experience. It makes sense to draw merit sources from that pool as well.

[cryptohunter]

...

Most generous merit senders, all time - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=topsendat

Can compare these lists by the number of matches...

Thank you these are a good start.

I would certainly be willling to give merit to any person here developing a dynamic website that could evaluate this data and produce some tight stats and graphical presentations for it.

To do this manually and get it 100% correct would be quite a substantial task.

I'm sure many would be willing to merit such a worthy application  that helps to ensure board does not become a centralised backslapping circle jerk of merit hogs. Not that I have any specific analysis that allows me to say that it has as yet.

[Alex_Sr]

...

The percentage of matching lists - 42%

[cryptohunter]

Well the first thing to point out is that this forum is not a decentralised project. It has a standard hierarchy of officials and members. It may be that many members support decentralisation and are anti-globalisation ( but not all ). If this hierarchy did not exist, then it would be mayhem here, and the forum would be useless in my opinion.

Your other point that merit awarding may be abused is a topic that has been discussed in many threads. I'm sure there is a certain amount of abuse of the system, but Theymos has been fairly careful in his selection of merit sources, and their activities are under constant scrutiny by the forum statisticians.Your assumtion has a fairly obvious basis. Longer standing members will be more comfortable with their posting, and most will be able to contribute more to the forum based on their experience. It makes sense to draw merit sources from that pool as well.

Thanks for posting and there could be merit in what you have said.

However opinons are something I would care to avoid until the statistical analysis is provided to demonstrate how much merit to and fro is contained within the top 50.


The possible explanations of such activity (once determined) should only then be discussed because it may not be the case that the top 50 are circle jerking merit around at all and this notion is without foundation.

I see many posts of I have developed this analysis tool and that analysis tool. This one should be equally as simple to create could be magnitudes more important if you consider the implications.

Also where to find the metric for what boards demonstrate the most merit activity?

Is it an offense to offer merit here for things to be done for the good of the board? for instance if one was to offer 25 or 50 merit points for the first person to create such an analysis tool. To be applied say 5 per month as long as the application stays active and live?

[Alex_Sr]

...

The percentage of matching lists - 42%

This is for the top 50 ?

Yes

[LoyceV]

2. That high merit receivers/givers are circle jerking and backslapping each other and not seeking out lower rank members who are worthy of merit to enable them to legitimately move up ranks.

Who here can provide some analysis of this for presentation.

I would like to analyse the top 50 merit receivers on this board and see if the majority of their merit comes from other members of that 50.

Here you go, the two Top 50's you asked for:

Weekly update (2018-11-02_Fri_10.04h)

Total number of users who received 1 or more Merit: 23981
Sample

Code:

     1. 2876 Merit received by theymos (#35) from 565 unique users in 982 transactions
     2. 1254 Merit received by satoshi (#3) from 140 unique users in 171 transactions
     3. 1185 Merit received by LoyceV (#459836) from 230 unique users in 651 transactions
     4. 1158 Merit received by DdmrDdmr (#1582324) from 155 unique users in 543 transactions
     5. 1026 Merit received by hilariousetc (#397737) from 149 unique users in 507 transactions
     6. 933 Merit received by Last of the V8s (#479624) from 117 unique users in 661 transactions
     7. 885 Merit received by suchmoon (#234771) from 145 unique users in 477 transactions
     8. 840 Merit received by The Pharmacist (#487418) from 156 unique users in 500 transactions
     9. 780 Merit received by Vod (#30747) from 198 unique users in 385 transactions
    10. 766 Merit received by micgoossens (#1067333) from 88 unique users in 394 transactions
    11. 764 Merit received by nullius (#976210) from 132 unique users in 370 transactions
    12. 764 Merit received by Jet Cash (#698159) from 182 unique users in 439 transactions
    13. 761 Merit received by xtraelv (#897509) from 119 unique users in 325 transactions
    14. 758 Merit received by Lutpin (#520313) from 141 unique users in 192 transactions
    15. 726 Merit received by achow101 (#290195) from 109 unique users in 399 transactions
    16. 695 Merit received by Piggy (#188198) from 112 unique users in 269 transactions
    17. 692 Merit received by TMAN (#98986) from 140 unique users in 289 transactions
    18. 635 Merit received by Lauda (#101872) from 115 unique users in 202 transactions
    19. 615 Merit received by o_e_l_e_o (#1188543) from 112 unique users in 327 transactions
    20. 603 Merit received by joniboini (#1275282) from 98 unique users in 317 transactions
    21. 591 Merit received by xhomerx10 (#120694) from 87 unique users in 310 transactions
    22. 589 Merit received by iasenko (#1291828) from 135 unique users in 309 transactions
    23. 584 Merit received by gmaxwell (#11425) from 53 unique users in 143 transactions
    24. 573 Merit received by krogothmanhattan (#1000199) from 103 unique users in 226 transactions
    25. 558 Merit received by BobLawblaw (#569455) from 86 unique users in 395 transactions
    26. 554 Merit received by theyoungmillionaire (#1180530) from 107 unique users in 196 transactions
    27. 497 Merit received by marlboroza (#787736) from 107 unique users in 233 transactions
    28. 495 Merit received by HairyMaclairy (#181806) from 91 unique users in 436 transactions
    29. 484 Merit received by sncc (#1560793) from 89 unique users in 175 transactions
    30. 478 Merit received by pitipawn (#1076869) from 58 unique users in 77 transactions
    31. 470 Merit received by BTCforJoe (#557989) from 108 unique users in 192 transactions
    32. 461 Merit received by qwk (#24140) from 110 unique users in 210 transactions
    33. 460 Merit received by bitmover (#1554927) from 126 unique users in 289 transactions
    34. 439 Merit received by DarkStar_ (#507936) from 114 unique users in 192 transactions
    35. 437 Merit received by jojo69 (#49008) from 76 unique users in 276 transactions
    36. 437 Merit received by HCP (#867786) from 108 unique users in 265 transactions
    37. 436 Merit received by infofront (#41175) from 84 unique users in 301 transactions
    38. 425 Merit received by zazarb (#369212) from 38 unique users in 55 transactions
    39. 425 Merit received by abhiseshakana (#1878246) from 37 unique users in 256 transactions
    40. 422 Merit received by TheQuin (#143168) from 131 unique users in 264 transactions
    41. 416 Merit received by mole0815 (#1424178) from 50 unique users in 229 transactions
    42. 413 Merit received by coinlocket$ (#1339716) from 102 unique users in 222 transactions
    43. 404 Merit received by bob123 (#579628) from 75 unique users in 238 transactions
    44. 403 Merit received by JayJuanGee (#252510) from 106 unique users in 303 transactions
    45. 403 Merit received by Hhampuz (#881377) from 95 unique users in 165 transactions
    46. 400 Merit received by Torque (#163318) from 84 unique users in 325 transactions
    47. 395 Merit received by PHI1618 (#1071136) from 63 unique users in 132 transactions
    48. 393 Merit received by Smart man (#1090672) from 103 unique users in 176 transactions
    49. 391 Merit received by OgNasty (#18321) from 115 unique users in 185 transactions
    50. 385 Merit received by DannyHamilton (#60820) from 90 unique users in 200 transactions

Full list (2 MB)

Total number of users who gave away 1 or more sMerit: 18374
Sample

Code:

     1. 6624 Merit sent by suchmoon (#234771) to 779 unique users in 1907 transactions
     2. 3225 Merit sent by QuestionAuthority (#72795) to 198 unique users in 226 transactions
     3. 3210 Merit sent by dbshck (#153634) to 491 unique users in 1645 transactions
     4. 3130 Merit sent by Foxpup (#55384) to 203 unique users in 1272 transactions
     5. 2587 Merit sent by qwk (#24140) to 365 unique users in 1767 transactions
     6. 2586 Merit sent by TMAN (#98986) to 346 unique users in 869 transactions
     7. 2145 Merit sent by Vod (#30747) to 415 unique users in 868 transactions
     8. 1910 Merit sent by EFS (#140584) to 333 unique users in 861 transactions
     9. 1763 Merit sent by paxmao (#1192397) to 645 unique users in 1379 transactions
    10. 1763 Merit sent by chimk (#1202061) to 415 unique users in 1223 transactions
    11. 1322 Merit sent by bones261 (#452769) to 389 unique users in 826 transactions
    12. 1289 Merit sent by LoyceV (#459836) to 489 unique users in 1149 transactions
    13. 1231 Merit sent by DarkStar_ (#507936) to 366 unique users in 553 transactions
    14. 1160 Merit sent by xandry (#382413) to 258 unique users in 993 transactions
    15. 1152 Merit sent by JayJuanGee (#252510) to 416 unique users in 1143 transactions
    16. 1051 Merit sent by BobLawblaw (#569455) to 120 unique users in 625 transactions
    17. 937 Merit sent by OgNasty (#18321) to 612 unique users in 829 transactions
    18. 909 Merit sent by frodocooper (#988740) to 149 unique users in 532 transactions
    19. 885 Merit sent by Jet Cash (#698159) to 336 unique users in 575 transactions
    20. 879 Merit sent by Micio (#115423) to 84 unique users in 411 transactions
    21. 878 Merit sent by Welsh (#84521) to 212 unique users in 403 transactions
    22. 785 Merit sent by LFC_Bitcoin (#379487) to 223 unique users in 643 transactions
    23. 774 Merit sent by achow101 (#290195) to 147 unique users in 377 transactions
    24. 767 Merit sent by theymos (#35) to 115 unique users in 143 transactions
    25. 733 Merit sent by Flying Hellfish (#79608) to 149 unique users in 281 transactions
    26. 701 Merit sent by teramit (#158960) to 197 unique users in 319 transactions
    27. 678 Merit sent by mprep (#51173) to 210 unique users in 393 transactions
    28. 668 Merit sent by mindrust (#176777) to 194 unique users in 320 transactions
    29. 657 Merit sent by Vlad2Vlad (#112208) to 52 unique users in 126 transactions
    30. 637 Merit sent by vapourminer (#33156) to 417 unique users in 608 transactions
    31. 630 Merit sent by The Pharmacist (#487418) to 268 unique users in 513 transactions
    32. 583 Merit sent by malevolent (#23092) to 158 unique users in 264 transactions
    33. 541 Merit sent by DdmrDdmr (#1582324) to 230 unique users in 507 transactions
    34. 538 Merit sent by Halab (#1053119) to 101 unique users in 255 transactions
    35. 535 Merit sent by Last of the V8s (#479624) to 151 unique users in 529 transactions
    36. 508 Merit sent by krogothmanhattan (#1000199) to 158 unique users in 313 transactions
    37. 503 Merit sent by hilariousetc (#397737) to 134 unique users in 262 transactions
    38. 486 Merit sent by xhomerx10 (#120694) to 150 unique users in 367 transactions
    39. 466 Merit sent by sapta (#347141) to 73 unique users in 105 transactions
    40. 426 Merit sent by Globb0 (#244243) to 74 unique users in 137 transactions
    41. 420 Merit sent by theymos_away (#349090) to 79 unique users in 89 transactions
    42. 399 Merit sent by hilariousandco (#164822) to 100 unique users in 170 transactions
    43. 392 Merit sent by iCEBREAKER (#17501) to 99 unique users in 125 transactions
    44. 390 Merit sent by RegulusHr (#1163424) to 74 unique users in 357 transactions
    45. 387 Merit sent by micgoossens (#1067333) to 83 unique users in 365 transactions
    46. 385 Merit sent by xtraelv (#897509) to 190 unique users in 369 transactions
    47. 382 Merit sent by cAPSLOCK (#35501) to 65 unique users in 150 transactions
    48. 381 Merit sent by rickbig41 (#553678) to 106 unique users in 169 transactions
    49. 381 Merit sent by infofront (#41175) to 108 unique users in 371 transactions
    50. 373 Merit sent by Lutpin (#520313) to 123 unique users in 159 transactions

Full list (2 MB)

You can easily see most users in the Top 50 sent and received Merit to and from much more than 50 different users.

This is not a thread that should really garner much opinion until the statistics are compiled and presented. Then we can discuss what it all means.

I'll share my opinion anyway: It makes sense that the Top 50 senders send a lot to the Top 50 receivers, that's what puts both of them in the top. It also makes sense that a relatively small group of people creates most good posts, and it makes sense that good posters are made merit sources.
So what you're trying to prove, it kinda to be expected. And yet, the "circles" are much bigger.

There are several analyses on Merit in Meta, and there are several things to consider before calling it "a circle jerk". I find "Merit per post" and "percentage of posts Merited" pretty good indicators for the quality of a user. Here's yours for example:

User cryptohunter (full history)

• Received a total of 27 Merit up to last Friday.
• Received 1 Merit (3.70%) for 1 (0%) of 11103 posts created before the introduction of Merit (0 Merit per old post).
• Received 26 Merit (96.29%) for 16 (1.39%) of 1149 posts created after the introduction of Merit (0.0226 Merit per new post).
• Received 0 Merit for posts that are now deleted.

[cryptohunter]

...

The percentage of matching lists - 42%

This is for the top 50 ?

Yes

The true telling point with be the amounts awarded. I think such a tool to analyse this very important (to those who want to level up ) would be of top priority.

I would love to know which boards have the most merit action also.

[erikoy]

I see your point OP, getting 1 merit for newbie is a challenge and we must leave that way for the starters to earn recognition and acknowledgement from the merit source. However, once they earn merit it will just leave like that stuck up with the current rank. I have seen some Jr. member good posters in the forum and that are active in meta section that does always contribute their valuable ideas every time a newbie posted a thread to earn merit. Those users must be motivated to share more on their ideas by awarding merit probably or some sort of encouragement through replies.

Only 1 merit and 30 activity needed for a newbie to rank up to a jr. member rank. But, after ranking up to jr. member later on the problem in getting another 10 merit to rank up to member would be harder. I was just lucky that merit source has provided me enough merit to rank up to member. But then, I stuck in this rank. Anyway, being a member is already enough to be part of the forum but it is more good when I could wear that Avatar one day.

[suchmoon]

The true telling point with be the amounts awarded. I think such a tool to analyse this very important (to those who want to level up ) would be of top priority.

I would love to know which boards have the most merit action also.

You have the data, get to work and let us know.

[Jet Cash]

If it is any help, LoyceV provided a merit history for me. I haven't updated it since June, but the list is here -
http://talkmerit.com/projects/merit-history.html

Maybe I should publish a second page. The comparison might be interesting.

[mainconcept]

I would also like to see which boards get the most merit action. This is very important too.

Edit: These are the top merit receivers by local section / non-local section:

For any local section:

Code:

Total Merit	Local board
574	Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
420	Deutsch (German)
371	Pyccкий (Russian)
339	Türkçe (Turkish)
246	Português (Portuguese)
184	Français
153	Hrvatski (Croatian)
144	Español (Spanish)
137	Italiano (Italian)
132	Philippines
120	中文 (Chinese)
100	日本語 (Japanese)
77	Nederlands (Dutch)
75	العربية (Arabic)
66	한국어 (Korean)
63	Other languages/locations
42	Eλληνικά (Greek)
37	Română (Romanian)
34	Polski
30	India
2	Skandinavisk

For any non-local section:

Code:

Total Merit	Non-Local board
2418	Meta
1263	Bitcoin Discussion
1067	Beginners & Help
951	Economics
692	Development & Technical Discussion
553	Marketplace
392	
365	Announcements (Altcoins)
313	Bitcoin Technical Support
299	Off-topic
290	Trading Discussion
271	Mining (Altcoins)
247	Marketplace (Altcoins)
242	Mining
192	Altcoin Discussion
135	Project Development
132	Serious discussion
128	Politics & Society
125	Archival
123	Speculation (Altcoins)

Credits to Piggy for his SQL Merit search tool.

Query used for the non-local section:

Code:

SELECT MAX(result.total) as "Total Merit", result.SubBoard as "Non-Local board" FROM (
	SELECT toid, SubBoard, SUM(Merit) AS total
	FROM meritdata as m
	WHERE m.Board in (SELECT Board FROM meritdata Where Board not like "Local%" GROUP BY Board)
	GROUP BY toid, Board
	ORDER BY Board,total Desc) AS result
GROUP BY SubBoard
ORDER BY result.total Desc

Query used for the local section:

We can easily get the Top Receiver for any local section simply using this:

Code:

SELECT MAX(result.total) as "Total Merit", result.toid as "Top merit receiver", result.SubBoard as "Local board" FROM (
	SELECT toid, SubBoard, SUM(Merit) AS total
	FROM meritdata as m
	WHERE m.Board in (SELECT Board FROM meritdata Where Board like "Local%" GROUP BY Board)
	GROUP BY toid, Board
	ORDER BY Board,total Desc) AS result
GROUP BY SubBoard
ORDER BY result.total Desc

EDIT:
This seems to be the correct query, the queries above refer to the top merit receivers by subboard.

Code:

SELECT SUM(Merit) as "Total Merit", board, subboard from MeritData
Group by SubBoard
order by SUM(merit) desc

Code:

Total Merit	Board	SubBoard
31067	Local	Pyccкий (Russian)
30475	Alternate cryptocurrencies	Announcements (Altcoins)
26075	Other	Meta
20590	Economy	Economics
16800	Economy	Marketplace
14432	Local	Türkçe (Turkish)
12787	Alternate cryptocurrencies	Altcoin Discussion
12266	Bitcoin	Bitcoin Discussion
11083	Message DELETED!	
9769	Local	Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
7905	Economy	Trading Discussion
7423	Local	Deutsch (German)
7110	Bitcoin	Development & Technical Discussion
6273	Alternate cryptocurrencies	Marketplace (Altcoins)
5275	Alternate cryptocurrencies	Mining (Altcoins)
4738	Other	Beginners & Help
3584	Local	Français
3283	Bitcoin	Mining
3065	Other	Off-topic
3016	Alternate cryptocurrencies	Speculation (Altcoins)
2677	Other	Politics & Society
2658	Other	Serious discussion
2624	Local	Italiano (Italian)
2381	Local	中文 (Chinese)
2197	Local	Español (Spanish)
2141	Local	Philippines
1826	Local	Português (Portuguese)
1757	Bitcoin	Bitcoin Technical Support
1727	Local	Hrvatski (Croatian)
954	Bitcoin	Project Development
660	Local	العربية (Arabic)
563	Local	Other languages/locations
544	Local	Eλληνικά (Greek)
512	Local	日本語 (Japanese)
349	Local	Nederlands (Dutch)
337	Local	Polski
247	Other	Archival
198	Local	India
139	Local	Română (Romanian)
100	Local	한국어 (Korean)
2	Local	Skandinavisk

Query for cross-checking with the total merit query:

Code:

SELECT SUM("Total Merit") from (
SELECT SUM(Merit) as "Total Merit", board, subboard from MeritData
Group by SubBoard
order by SUM(merit) desc)

--> Seems good now:

Code:

SUM("Total Merit")
261609

Code:

SELECT SUM(Merit) from MeritData

Total Merit:

Code:

SUM(Merit)
261609

[cryptohunter]

2. That high merit receivers/givers are circle jerking and backslapping each other and not seeking out lower rank members who are worthy of merit to enable them to legitimately move up ranks.

Who here can provide some analysis of this for presentation.

I would like to analyse the top 50 merit receivers on this board and see if the majority of their merit comes from other members of that 50.

Here you go, the two Top 50's you asked for:

Weekly update (2018-11-02_Fri_10.04h)

Total number of users who received 1 or more Merit: 23981
Sample

Code:

     1. 2876 Merit received by theymos (#35) from 565 unique users in 982 transactions
     2. 1254 Merit received by satoshi (#3) from 140 unique users in 171 transactions
     3. 1185 Merit received by LoyceV (#459836) from 230 unique users in 651 transactions
     4. 1158 Merit received by DdmrDdmr (#1582324) from 155 unique users in 543 transactions
     5. 1026 Merit received by hilariousetc (#397737) from 149 unique users in 507 transactions
     6. 933 Merit received by Last of the V8s (#479624) from 117 unique users in 661 transactions
     7. 885 Merit received by suchmoon (#234771) from 145 unique users in 477 transactions
     8. 840 Merit received by The Pharmacist (#487418) from 156 unique users in 500 transactions
     9. 780 Merit received by Vod (#30747) from 198 unique users in 385 transactions
    10. 766 Merit received by micgoossens (#1067333) from 88 unique users in 394 transactions
    11. 764 Merit received by nullius (#976210) from 132 unique users in 370 transactions
    12. 764 Merit received by Jet Cash (#698159) from 182 unique users in 439 transactions
    13. 761 Merit received by xtraelv (#897509) from 119 unique users in 325 transactions
    14. 758 Merit received by Lutpin (#520313) from 141 unique users in 192 transactions
    15. 726 Merit received by achow101 (#290195) from 109 unique users in 399 transactions
    16. 695 Merit received by Piggy (#188198) from 112 unique users in 269 transactions
    17. 692 Merit received by TMAN (#98986) from 140 unique users in 289 transactions
    18. 635 Merit received by Lauda (#101872) from 115 unique users in 202 transactions
    19. 615 Merit received by o_e_l_e_o (#1188543) from 112 unique users in 327 transactions
    20. 603 Merit received by joniboini (#1275282) from 98 unique users in 317 transactions
    21. 591 Merit received by xhomerx10 (#120694) from 87 unique users in 310 transactions
    22. 589 Merit received by iasenko (#1291828) from 135 unique users in 309 transactions
    23. 584 Merit received by gmaxwell (#11425) from 53 unique users in 143 transactions
    24. 573 Merit received by krogothmanhattan (#1000199) from 103 unique users in 226 transactions
    25. 558 Merit received by BobLawblaw (#569455) from 86 unique users in 395 transactions
    26. 554 Merit received by theyoungmillionaire (#1180530) from 107 unique users in 196 transactions
    27. 497 Merit received by marlboroza (#787736) from 107 unique users in 233 transactions
    28. 495 Merit received by HairyMaclairy (#181806) from 91 unique users in 436 transactions
    29. 484 Merit received by sncc (#1560793) from 89 unique users in 175 transactions
    30. 478 Merit received by pitipawn (#1076869) from 58 unique users in 77 transactions
    31. 470 Merit received by BTCforJoe (#557989) from 108 unique users in 192 transactions
    32. 461 Merit received by qwk (#24140) from 110 unique users in 210 transactions
    33. 460 Merit received by bitmover (#1554927) from 126 unique users in 289 transactions
    34. 439 Merit received by DarkStar_ (#507936) from 114 unique users in 192 transactions
    35. 437 Merit received by jojo69 (#49008) from 76 unique users in 276 transactions
    36. 437 Merit received by HCP (#867786) from 108 unique users in 265 transactions
    37. 436 Merit received by infofront (#41175) from 84 unique users in 301 transactions
    38. 425 Merit received by zazarb (#369212) from 38 unique users in 55 transactions
    39. 425 Merit received by abhiseshakana (#1878246) from 37 unique users in 256 transactions
    40. 422 Merit received by TheQuin (#143168) from 131 unique users in 264 transactions
    41. 416 Merit received by mole0815 (#1424178) from 50 unique users in 229 transactions
    42. 413 Merit received by coinlocket$ (#1339716) from 102 unique users in 222 transactions
    43. 404 Merit received by bob123 (#579628) from 75 unique users in 238 transactions
    44. 403 Merit received by JayJuanGee (#252510) from 106 unique users in 303 transactions
    45. 403 Merit received by Hhampuz (#881377) from 95 unique users in 165 transactions
    46. 400 Merit received by Torque (#163318) from 84 unique users in 325 transactions
    47. 395 Merit received by PHI1618 (#1071136) from 63 unique users in 132 transactions
    48. 393 Merit received by Smart man (#1090672) from 103 unique users in 176 transactions
    49. 391 Merit received by OgNasty (#18321) from 115 unique users in 185 transactions
    50. 385 Merit received by DannyHamilton (#60820) from 90 unique users in 200 transactions

Full list (2 MB)

Total number of users who gave away 1 or more sMerit: 18374
Sample

Code:

     1. 6624 Merit sent by suchmoon (#234771) to 779 unique users in 1907 transactions
     2. 3225 Merit sent by QuestionAuthority (#72795) to 198 unique users in 226 transactions
     3. 3210 Merit sent by dbshck (#153634) to 491 unique users in 1645 transactions
     4. 3130 Merit sent by Foxpup (#55384) to 203 unique users in 1272 transactions
     5. 2587 Merit sent by qwk (#24140) to 365 unique users in 1767 transactions
     6. 2586 Merit sent by TMAN (#98986) to 346 unique users in 869 transactions
     7. 2145 Merit sent by Vod (#30747) to 415 unique users in 868 transactions
     8. 1910 Merit sent by EFS (#140584) to 333 unique users in 861 transactions
     9. 1763 Merit sent by paxmao (#1192397) to 645 unique users in 1379 transactions
    10. 1763 Merit sent by chimk (#1202061) to 415 unique users in 1223 transactions
    11. 1322 Merit sent by bones261 (#452769) to 389 unique users in 826 transactions
    12. 1289 Merit sent by LoyceV (#459836) to 489 unique users in 1149 transactions
    13. 1231 Merit sent by DarkStar_ (#507936) to 366 unique users in 553 transactions
    14. 1160 Merit sent by xandry (#382413) to 258 unique users in 993 transactions
    15. 1152 Merit sent by JayJuanGee (#252510) to 416 unique users in 1143 transactions
    16. 1051 Merit sent by BobLawblaw (#569455) to 120 unique users in 625 transactions
    17. 937 Merit sent by OgNasty (#18321) to 612 unique users in 829 transactions
    18. 909 Merit sent by frodocooper (#988740) to 149 unique users in 532 transactions
    19. 885 Merit sent by Jet Cash (#698159) to 336 unique users in 575 transactions
    20. 879 Merit sent by Micio (#115423) to 84 unique users in 411 transactions
    21. 878 Merit sent by Welsh (#84521) to 212 unique users in 403 transactions
    22. 785 Merit sent by LFC_Bitcoin (#379487) to 223 unique users in 643 transactions
    23. 774 Merit sent by achow101 (#290195) to 147 unique users in 377 transactions
    24. 767 Merit sent by theymos (#35) to 115 unique users in 143 transactions
    25. 733 Merit sent by Flying Hellfish (#79608) to 149 unique users in 281 transactions
    26. 701 Merit sent by teramit (#158960) to 197 unique users in 319 transactions
    27. 678 Merit sent by mprep (#51173) to 210 unique users in 393 transactions
    28. 668 Merit sent by mindrust (#176777) to 194 unique users in 320 transactions
    29. 657 Merit sent by Vlad2Vlad (#112208) to 52 unique users in 126 transactions
    30. 637 Merit sent by vapourminer (#33156) to 417 unique users in 608 transactions
    31. 630 Merit sent by The Pharmacist (#487418) to 268 unique users in 513 transactions
    32. 583 Merit sent by malevolent (#23092) to 158 unique users in 264 transactions
    33. 541 Merit sent by DdmrDdmr (#1582324) to 230 unique users in 507 transactions
    34. 538 Merit sent by Halab (#1053119) to 101 unique users in 255 transactions
    35. 535 Merit sent by Last of the V8s (#479624) to 151 unique users in 529 transactions
    36. 508 Merit sent by krogothmanhattan (#1000199) to 158 unique users in 313 transactions
    37. 503 Merit sent by hilariousetc (#397737) to 134 unique users in 262 transactions
    38. 486 Merit sent by xhomerx10 (#120694) to 150 unique users in 367 transactions
    39. 466 Merit sent by sapta (#347141) to 73 unique users in 105 transactions
    40. 426 Merit sent by Globb0 (#244243) to 74 unique users in 137 transactions
    41. 420 Merit sent by theymos_away (#349090) to 79 unique users in 89 transactions
    42. 399 Merit sent by hilariousandco (#164822) to 100 unique users in 170 transactions
    43. 392 Merit sent by iCEBREAKER (#17501) to 99 unique users in 125 transactions
    44. 390 Merit sent by RegulusHr (#1163424) to 74 unique users in 357 transactions
    45. 387 Merit sent by micgoossens (#1067333) to 83 unique users in 365 transactions
    46. 385 Merit sent by xtraelv (#897509) to 190 unique users in 369 transactions
    47. 382 Merit sent by cAPSLOCK (#35501) to 65 unique users in 150 transactions
    48. 381 Merit sent by rickbig41 (#553678) to 106 unique users in 169 transactions
    49. 381 Merit sent by infofront (#41175) to 108 unique users in 371 transactions
    50. 373 Merit sent by Lutpin (#520313) to 123 unique users in 159 transactions

Full list (2 MB)

You can easily see most users in the Top 50 sent and received Merit to and from much more than 50 different users.

This is not a thread that should really garner much opinion until the statistics are compiled and presented. Then we can discuss what it all means.

I'll share my opinion anyway: It makes sense that the Top 50 senders send a lot to the Top 50 receivers, that's what puts both of them in the top. It also makes sense that a relatively small group of people creates most good posts, and it makes sense that good posters are made merit sources.
So what you're trying to prove, it kinda to be expected. And yet, the "circles" are much bigger.

Thanks for this post.

I want to make it first clear that I am not trying to prove anything. From my brief interest of late into all this merit obsession I seemed noticed there are a small group that seems to be circle jerking merit amongst themselves on obscure boards that most users will not ever use.

That was a small sample size of course and statistically therefore held little power. So I just decided to investigate further.

I was hoping actually to disprove my suspicion and see that the top merit holders that were already mostly legends were taking time to get out on the most populated boards and help newer and lower rank members level up. Rather than mostly award each other merits when they are already at legend status.

The stats already provided are powerful confirmation that former is  happening. I would suspect if we could get a graphical representation of these stats drilled down to exact number merits given and received amongst the top 50 per individual that would demonstrate just how much the top 50 is hogging the merits amongst themselves, and certain members are really giving each other some serious merit love.

Who are the merit sources here btw? and what is a merit source exactly? I have previous not paid any notice of the kind of board metrics before since I am not a trader here. I am starting to take an interest in DT of late too I had not even known such a thing existed. I am interested to see how one is eligible and then who decides on DT. (that discussion is for another thread though).

This is certainly not a witch hunt for individuals but rather an attempt to let us evaluate and discuss how the merit system is working out for the entire board so far.

This place used to be the best forum on the net for free speech and a self governing community that weeded out scammers and desirables in a much more decentralised way. It seems to be lately going the other way. This may be unavoidable due to the scammers and ico bots out numbering genuine users and enthusiasts.

I would love to see a simple metric that shows ie x%  total number of all merit (not number of times they gave merit -- i would like to know the exact merit ) given by the the top 100 went only to other top 100 members.  then be able to do that for top 10, 20 , 50,

I would like to see which boards  are the beneficiary of the merit given by the top 10, 20, 50, 100 and that matched to the amount of posts taking place on each board. Just to see how disproportionate this actually is.

[LoyceV]

If it is any help, LoyceV provided a merit history for me. I haven't updated it since June, but the list is here -

Try http://loycevsbasement.privatedns.org/Merit/history/698159.html
I'll update it again in a few hours.

[cryptohunter]

The true telling point with be the amounts awarded. I think such a tool to analyse this very important (to those who want to level up ) would be of top priority.

I would love to know which boards have the most merit action also.

You have the data, get to work and let us know.

What no offer of help?

You could get some additional merit for such a useful tool.


@LoyceV

thank you very much for this

Total Merit   Non-Local board
2418   Meta
1263   Bitcoin Discussion
1067   Beginners & Help
951   Economics
692   Development & Technical Discussion
553   Marketplace
392   
365   Announcements (Altcoins)
313   Bitcoin Technical Support
299   Off-topic
290   Trading Discussion
271   Mining (Altcoins)
247   Marketplace (Altcoins)
242   Mining
192   Altcoin Discussion


Meta - 247262 Posts - 2418 merit

Alt discussion board - 2564018 Posts - 192 merit

Bitcoin discussion board - 2038120 Posts  - 1263 merit


These are quite interesting and confirm that meta although generally receiving 10x less traffic than the alt discussion board (where most new people are posting) still gets nearly 13x more merit activity.  So that is quite alarming if you are going on a post to probability of merit ratio alone. 130x more likely to get merit for a post in meta- - Is that even vaguely correct?? Math is not my best thing actually so no shame in asking for assistance and confirmation.

Even bitcoins main forum that is far more moderated to raise the level of post quality.. is at 10x more posts and 2x less merit. So the ration there is better than the alt board but king of the hill by far and where you want be posting is meta, and you want to be in the top 50.

So in the most obscure board (for most) and be already one of the highest merit profiles is the quickest way to more merit it would seem.

However yes, if everyone was as helpfull as loyceV then perhaps they should be entitled to high merit.  

I had suspected merit was introduced to enable only valid posters to level up so have often ignored very good posts from legends since I could not see any benefit to them to have extra when I could give lower level members that were trying hard a chance to level up.

[LoyceV]

Who are the merit sources here btw? and what is a merit source exactly? I have previous not paid any notice of the kind of board metrics before since I am not a trader here. I am starting to take an interest in DT of late too I had not even known such a thing existed. I am interested to see how one is eligible and then who decides on DT. (that discussion is for another thread though).

You're asking many questions that have been discussed and answered in Meta many times. I recommend you read a bit more first in other threads.
I can also recommend checking the last topics started by Piggy and DdmrDdmr. I think you're going to love their work on Merit statistics (partially interactive).

Further reading: [TOP-200] Members who support newbies - Thanks!.

[Jet Cash]

I'm going to prove the theory if I'm not careful. I've given Loyce 2 merits each for two of his posts today. I guess I need to lock my merit bag.