Hello Cleft, welcome to BitcoinTalk forum
What is merit and how can I get it?
Briefly explained, merit is something like Facebook's "Like" button.
But there is a difference, you can't send "merit" all the time, it wouldn't make sense to have user rankings on this forum.
Every 2 merits received, you earn 1 sMerit, which gives you the right to send it to a determined user, but most of the time people send merit when a user makes an interesting post/topic!
What's the main porpuse of the forum and how can it be achieved?
Basically this is no secret :p
I suggest you read the forum rules, try to understand how BitcoinTalk works and get a systemic view of how it works.
• Share your knowledge with everyone
• Create quality topics that can help others members
• Participate in interesting debates
• Be curious
• Participate, be an interactive member, talk with others, help others users
ps: don't be discouraged, in the past I was like you, newbie and didn't have much knowledge about this forum.
Day after day I participated in debates, conversations, etc, and today I am Sr. Member!
if I did it, you can do it as well
Work hard and trust in yourself!
Good luck