Do we need at least one merit source per local board section?

[Debonaire217]

Do we need at least one merit source per local board section?

The answer to that particular question for me is yes. Not just because people cannot understand the language since we have a language barrier, but also because there are points and opinions that only natives and their race could perfectly understand. In some cases, some users want to be appreciated and merited cannot speak and write in English with proper grammar so they need to post their topic on the international board. On the other hand, there are cases that a user has an idea that only his brothers can relate but there's lacking in support and merit that he receives.

Through this, a merit source per local board section might be a solution to encourage every member of their respective nation to effectively share their thoughts and ideas. Thus, providing them with merits not just from merit sources will encourage them to continue what they're doing and can make our forum better to have topics with not just quality content, but with a structured and well-organized message construction.

Besides, there is a way for members of this forum to share their thoughts by utilizing an existing auto-text correction that can be installed as an extension to their Web Browsers.

Here's an example:
Edited

• Grammarly
  

[tranthidung]

a merit source per local board section might be a solution to encourage every member of their respective nation to effectively share their thoughts and ideas.

I don't think so. Good posters will make their posts when they have valuable ideas to share or discuss with others, in their local boards or international boards (in English). I think most of users join the forum with initial purposes to discover about Bitcoin and blockchain technology do have acceptable English skills. It means they can understand what they read and can write understandable posts.

With never-stop-upgrading Google Translator and other helpful softwares (such as grammarly.com), their lives have become easier. The biggest barriers likely are why they join the forum. That's all.

There is at least one wrong point in your proposal. That is not all of local boards are actively communicating among local users. In inactive local boards, I don't think the forum should allocate merit sources for those boards.

I could be wrong but everyone here have to expand to International boards in order to learn knowledge and become more knowledgeable at faster speed. Sticking all the time or most of time in local boards is not a wisely approach.

Lastly, I don't think there is need to create a new thread like this because you can join and discuss in available threads on same suggestion. In 2018, theymos claimed that there was very little local boards did not have merit source(s). I believe that currently most or all (?) of local boards have merit source(s). What people asked recent months (as of my best knowledge) is adding new merit source(s) for their local boards.
1 merit source in every Local Boards, Is it Possible?
Local Merit Sources Problem
Criterion for selecting a moderator for the local section
You also can support merit sources (ask for increases of their allocated sMerits) or merit source applications (not yet accepte) in your local boards
{LIST}of the Merit Sources asking for more/less source merit, @theymos.
{list} Open Merit Source Applications,waiting list.

[Bttzed03]

~
Through this, a merit source per local board section might be a solution to encourage every member of their respective nation to effectively share their thoughts and ideas.
~

Not exactly what's happening. Despite our local board having a merit source, I rarely see new faces/accounts posting there.

[TheUltraElite]

When the merit system was first introduced theymos made a point that local board users should appoint a merit source for their local sections.

See the ability to be able to get merits while posting in a different language encourages a few good habits:
1. More activity in the local board
2. Source of unification among members.
3. Helping out users who are lacking the knowledge of English and are shy to post in English section, fearing that they might be laughed at.
4. Allowing local board members to gradually rank up.
5. Re-enforcing the grasp of native languages of the users.
6. Allowing users to gradually become potentially translators - those who have a background of higher studies in languages.

Considering the General english sections of the forum being heavily spammed getting country specific answers is very tough.

[Upgrade00]

English language is not the prerequisite for exploring the blockchain technology, it is not the most spoken language (by population), and if it's not among a country's official languages, then there's a possibility many of its citizens will not be able to speak/write in it acceptably. Users should not be forced outside their comfort zones in search of merits, I believe that's one of the reasons local boards were created.

Choosing a merit source for a local board however should depend on some factors, the need for it and the availability of a qualified member of that board to fill the role, it shouldn't be done generally.

[Findingnemo]

I too agree that every local board should get at least one merit source,if the number of posts on that local board is less then allocation for the merit source could be lesser,I even read merit source have 30-40 merit to be awarded so increasing the number of merit sources without increasing the available quota can help local boards to get more active.But if that local boards doesn't have any recognized member then it will be hard for theymos to appoint one especially if he can't read that language.

[Daniel91]

Based on my experience, every local board should have at least one merit source.
In Croatian local board we had one merit source before (now I'm only merit source) and this fact helped a lot young members, who don't speak English so well, to receive merits for very good quality posts in Croatian about btc.
Since Croatian is spoken by a very small group of users of this forum, if we didn't have local merit source, these posts would never get merit.
Personally, I think every quality post on this forum should be rewarded with merit, and since not everyone writes in English, we need a local merit sources so that local posts also have a chance to get merit.
Otherwise, why do we even have local sections in this forum?

[DdmrDdmr]

There are currently 21 local boards. I really have no idea which have got a Merit Source and which don’t, although for those that have a decent sized one (or more) it can be inferred by analysing the largest merit awarders over the last few months per Local Board.

I guess that the discussion here is not so much the Merit Source allocation for the Merit Sources, but more of a boolean factor:  Do all Local Boards require Merit Source or not?

Side note: A Local Board Merit Source is not confined to meriting only on the Local Board, and may merit on other boards at will (conceptually, they will look after their Local Board, but it’s not an exclusive domain).

Some of the Local Boards seem to have very little posting activity. For example (let´s include Alt coins for simplicity):
* Dutch (https://public.tableau.com/shared/P7TPMYTKT?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Dutch Local Board generated between 26 and 69 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Greek (https://public.tableau.com/shared/42H4HPK8X?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Greek Local Board generated between 77 and 96 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Hebrew (https://public.tableau.com/shared/SHJFS6CMN?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Hebrew Local Board generated between -1 and 5 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Japanese (https://public.tableau.com/shared/ZGM4NXYFJ?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Japanese Local Board generated between -4 and 32 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Korean (https://public.tableau.com/shared/N2RRWKS7H?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Korean Local Board generated between 42 and 52 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Romanian (https://public.tableau.com/shared/FDC85G5SQ?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Skandinavisk Local Board generated between -18 and 57 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.

* Skandinavisk (https://public.tableau.com/shared/HKC5PCJCM?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link):
The Skandinavisk Local Board generated between -9 and 23 net posts per month over each of the last three months readings.


Those numbers are not too great, and being the number of posts small, it may even turn out that the main candidate for being a Merit Source is the main poster there too (catch 22 for him). Of course you can also vouch for the lack of a Merit Source being a non-incentive to posts on some of the Local Boards, although that would presume that merits is the core reason for posting, and not discussion.

Conceptually, in my opinion, every Local Board should probably have similar conditions, and having a Merit Source on some and not on others is kind of unbalanced. Nevertheless, choosing a Merit Source entails a degree of trust (not the one on the profile) which is likely more difficult to entail on rather inactive Local Boards due to language barrier and lack of visibility or their members.

There is a procedure though for postulating to become a Merit Source, so that should probably be the way to give visibility to a specific Local Board that requires a Merit Source (that and listing more than the 10 required posts as proof of concept). 
 

[Pmalek]

Since Croatian is spoken by a very small group of users of this forum, if we didn't have local merit source, these posts would never get merit.

We are not that small if you think about it. Croatia is just one of the countries that speaks a variant of the same language, Croatian or call it Serbo-Croatian like it was called before the war if you want. So if we include Serbian, Montenegrian and Bosnian we are not that small really.
I never really understood why there is a Serbian local thread (not forum, just a thread) where aaaallllll the discussions are clogged up in just one thread instead of merging it with the Croatian board. The Serbian locals are posting the Croatian board anyways. Maybe I am being naive but going by that logic there should also be a Bosnian and Montenegrian local thread/board 
   

[ryzaadit]

Based on a few threads at meta, most people try to be merit sources for their own "Local Board". They already have their own merit source for local board, but the problem the merit source/moderator not really active to distributed all his merit allocation to their own local board. Also some merit source/moderator doesn't have enough time to find a good post/thread to give merit.

I think the problem not only "Merit Source" lack of time also one of the problems, but we also need a few reputable members for their own local board to make a thread [HELP] and if everyone feels his post was really good and deserve to get a merit they can make some application to that thread for the review. A review member can make their own speculation for application post, we also can give him a suggestion for the post. If the review member already gives his review, merit source can give a merit-based on his review.

[The Cryptovator]

Before you, admin has thought regarding local board merit sources.

I am especially eager to have merit sources in sub-communities such as the local sections.

But the question is how many users deserve that. If someone think they deserve merit source they are free to apply from local borad and their application will give more priority than other applications accordingly. And I think so local board should have merit sources.

If local boards user think that they do not deserve then likely admin will not anyone by himself lately.  There is some criteria for apply as a merit sources I hope you know it.

1. Be a somewhat established member.
 2. Collect TEN posts written in the last couple of months by other people that have not received nearly enough merit for how good they are, and post quotes for them all in a new Meta thread. The point of this is to demonstrate your ability to give out merit usefully.
 3. We will take a look at your history and maybe make you a source.

PS; Please use link properly, you can use just website link. It doesn't make sense use their advertising link on this forum. Otherwise use it as a hyperlink. For example,  "Grammarly

[Daniel91]

Based on a few threads at meta, most people try to be merit sources for their own "Local Board". They already have their own merit source for local board, but the problem the merit source/moderator not really active to distributed all his merit allocation to their own local board. Also some merit source/moderator doesn't have enough time to find a good post/thread to give merit.

I think the problem not only "Merit Source" lack of time also one of the problems, but we also need a few reputable members for their own local board to make a thread [HELP] and if everyone feels his post was really good and deserve to get a merit they can make some application to that thread for the review. A review member can make their own speculation for application post, we also can give him a suggestion for the post. If the review member already gives his review, merit source can give a merit-based on his review.

In fact, we already have such topic in Croatian section of the forum: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4265795.0
When I became merit source, I started this topic so that local member can report their good quality post, so that I can reward them with merits.
I'm usually very busy with my work and other obligations, so I don't have much time to search for good posts in the forum, so this topic makes more easy for me to fulfil my duty as local merit source.
I don't reward only posts in Croatian language, of course but also other good posts I see in other parts of the forum but I feel I want to help and support my local community more.

[Rikafip]

Since Croatian is spoken by a very small group of users of this forum, if we didn't have local merit source, these posts would never get merit.

We are not that small if you think about it. Croatia is just one of the countries that speaks a variant of the same language, Croatian or call it Serbo-Croatian like it was called before the war if you want. So if we include Serbian, Montenegrian and Bosnian we are not that small really.
I never really understood why there is a Serbian local thread (not forum, just a thread) where aaaallllll the discussions are clogged up in just one thread instead of merging it with the Croatian board. The Serbian locals are posting the Croatian board anyways. Maybe I am being naive but going by that logic there should also be a Bosnian and Montenegrian local thread/board  
  

Croatian board is actually quite active, considering approximately  20 million people understands our language. According to @DdmrDdmr stats, Croatian board is more active lately than Polish and last month on par with Italian  for example, countries with way  more people.
Maybe people from those countries are more active in English speaking part of the forum, and that explains such difference, but it is still a solid argument that Croatian board could use more merits/merit sources.

[NavI_027]

Through this, a merit source per local board section might be a solution to encourage every member of their respective nation to effectively share their thoughts and ideas. Thus, providing them with merits not just from merit sources will encourage them to continue what they're doing and can make our forum better to have topics with not just quality content, but with a structured and well-organized message construction.

For me, aiming to make quality posts for the sake of getting merits is not a totally bad but also not very good mindset because what it seems to me is that you are only making good posts so you can get greater chance to be accepted on signature/bounty campaigns. Here's the thing, if you really love staying here then merits were just a bonus — if you love to share and do care for other, you can do it even without an exchange.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Before you suggest appointing a source to all local board, how active are all the local boards. What discussion are ongoing on those boards that can't be discussed on the english board. Users of boards that aren't that active should be able to use their earned smerit to merit worthy posts on the boards. One thing I put into it considerations is the fact most local board patronizers can also communicate effectively in english so if a local board isn't that active per se then the board doesn't need a source to avoid the abuse of the system since supply (smerit) will be greater than demand (posts).

I only support applications (although not sure if it has any effect on the outcome) from users their local board are very active and in need of more smerits to encourage more quality discussion on the board.

[ryzaadit]

When I became merit source, I started this topic so that local member can report their good quality post, so that I can reward them with merits.
I'm usually very busy with my work and other obligations, so I don't have much time to search for good posts in the forum, so this topic makes more easy for me to fulfil my duty as local merit source.
I don't reward only posts in Croatian language, of course but also other good posts I see in other parts of the forum but I feel I want to help and support my local community more.

Since the topic about local board section, you need more information and make some rules for the thread [HELP] at least give a minimum for each post review.

I am one of the reviewers at thread [HELP] Rank Up Indonesia Board, we have some rules if anyone to make a post review
- The topic/post must be Indonesia Language.
- Minimum post to be review 10.
- English post/topic not moderated.

Here an example from my review activity https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2840438.msg53007136#msg53007136, right now i already sent my merit earned more than 200 sMerits.

[joniboini]

A merit source can cover two or more boards as long as they can understand the language. Sometimes I go to Filipinos or Indian board if I'm bored in my local board and have some sMerit to spend. The all-mighty Google Translate could help but of course it's not perfect.

[Pmalek]

What discussion are ongoing on those boards that can't be discussed on the english board.

Not everyone speaks English that well and some members maybe don't want to write in English at all but they still like Bitcoin and crypto.
They deserve to have their own board where they can freely discuss the topics they are interested in and receive merits like everyone else.

An example.
A local post office in a Croatian town started accepting crypto recently. There is a thread about it in the Croatian local. I don't see why a discussion about a local Croatian post office accepting crypto would be interesting for readers outside Croatia. They wouldn't really care. It could be interesting news as it fosters adoption of crypto but that is about it.
For the locals it is more than that. Some users live in that city. They will go there trying their service, it adds another option to trade crypto and that is why such a discussion is better suited in the appropriate local board. 

[BITCOIN4X]

~snip~
The all-mighty Google Translate could help but of course it's not perfect.

Not all local boards that are available are active boards, at least I have checked them on several boards. Only a few active threads can be found there, so it is not a requirement that all local councils have a merit source . The merit source also doesnt have to save just one local board, but at least what you do is enough to help other local board besides your own local board.

I found the merit source from my local board several times distributing the merit to other local board users, at least it was not prohibited. Understanding the language that is lacking might be able to help with google tranlate even though it is not quite perfect as you said.

[Daniel91]

What discussion are ongoing on those boards that can't be discussed on the english board.

Not everyone speaks English that well and some members maybe don't want to write in English at all but they still like Bitcoin and crypto.
They deserve to have their own board where they can freely discuss the topics they are interested in and receive merits like everyone else.

An example.
A local post office in a Croatian town started accepting crypto recently. There is a thread about it in the Croatian local. I don't see why a discussion about a local Croatian post office accepting crypto would be interesting for readers outside Croatia. They wouldn't really care. It could be interesting news as it fosters adoption of crypto but that is about it.
For the locals it is more than that. Some users live in that city. They will go there trying their service, it adds another option to trade crypto and that is why such a discussion is better suited in the appropriate local board.  

Don't forget that we also had real "offline " meeting in one restaurant in Zagreb.
Former local forum member Regulus started topic about it in our local forum and invited all local members to attend.
We really had great meeting,  met for the first time in the real life.
Such topic really belongs to the local board not in the main part of the forum.
Other local topic is recent discussion about local moderator.
BTW,  I shared the news about local Croatian post offering crypto exchange also in Bitcoin discussion section because I felt such news could be interesting for tourists visiting Croatia.