Many new accounts posting - Are they real newbies or alts?

I've noticed that almost all the latest posts in Bitcoin Discussion are made from new accounts. Some don't seem to be new to the space but have enough knowledge to consider them active for more than a year.
I don't want to doubt the people that genuinely ask questions but quite a few don't actually look legit.
My first guess is that a few old members decided to see how long it will take them to make merit, in which case I hope they actually understand how hard it is and how long it will take them to give up as I did.
Meanwhile hundreds perhaps thousands of members have at least 100 merit and are basically clueless and useless. You keep talking about qualiy posts, but you should realize what a failure this merit system is.
My second guess is that someone will start meriting these alts sooner or later so he can exploit the bounties with multiple accounts.