KNOWLEDGE IS BETTER THAN MERIT

[Joy_learns_crypto]

The first post I made on this forum was a post of my introduction and also my set aside goals I want to achieve on the forum.
I got from the reply enough advise, Knowledge and guidance
Like Frequent asked questions https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2766177.0
And rules guiding the forum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0
that has been very useful to me so far and I know if I continue to abide by them I will keep on going in the right track.
     With that said, Prior to my first post I never had any interest or any excitement of merits, in fact I had basic knowledge of it but as I found out I got more than 10merits on that particular post.
      I found out about merits from posts I see from Newbie's like me searching and crying for merits, saying merits are not shared properly, or wanting to know about merits so soon without even participating in the forum or reading the forums rules and regulations.
      Citing myself as an example with my first post on the forum, I have come to realise that searching for knowledge should come first before any other thing in the forum.
CONCLUSION
All these being said, I wish to advise my fellow newbie's to seek for knowledge first before talking about merits. Merits should come when you make a good post, so focus on making quality and educating posts than looking for merits.

[Pmalek]

I think I remember you from your introductory post as the woman from South Africa who doesn't want to be tied to the kitchen, but wants to learn about Bitcoin. It's good to see that you are still around.

And rules guiding the forum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

When it comes to forum rules, there are just a few you need to keep in mind at all times. Don't plagiarize, don't spam with low effort and valueless posts, don't share links to viruses or phishing sites, and don't post multiple posts one after the other. Those are the things that can get you banned.
 

    With that said, Prior to my first post I never had any interest or any excitement of merits, in fact I had basic knowledge of it but as I found out I got more than 10merits on that particular post.

Just be genuine, eager to learn and help, and you will have no issues here. Merits will start dropping and then pouring in when you get recognized as an honest and hardworking individual.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

I think I remember you from your introductory post as the woman from South Africa who doesn't want to be tied to the kitchen, but wants to learn about Bitcoin. It's good to see that you are still around.

Its nice that you still remember me but I'm from West Africa not South Africa.

When it comes to forum rules, there are just a few you need to keep in mind at all times. Don't plagiarize, don't spam with low effort and valueless posts, don't share links to viruses or phishing sites, and don't post multiple posts one after the other. Those are the things that can get you banned.  

PLAGIARISM
These are some of the reasons newbie's plagiarise

WHY NEWBIES PLAGERISE:
1. Unawareness of the consequences of plagiarism in the forum:
A user with the full understanding of the consequences of plagiarism in and outside this forum will likely not plagiarism. The victims of plagiarism are mostly people unaware of the severe consequences of plagiarism in this forum, these are mostly newer and lower ranking members. 

2. Posting to impress:
When one begins to post to impress other users, he/she will tilt off his/her abilities. This will result to creating unnecessarily lengthy posts, and in the quest to maintain quality throughout the content, will result to plagiarism. 

3. Little/No knowledge on the subject of discussion:
This very act results to an epileptic composition. Whenever, a user deviates from his/her core essence, he'll definitely steal to be relevant. This will lead to emergency research that will definitely birth plagiarism. 

4. Hunting for merit:
When the purpose is no longer to discuss, learn and impact, the purpose is dead on arrival. In the hunt for merit, a user will unconsciously involve in spamming and plagiarism in order to get the desired goal(merit) 

5. Not knowing methods or rules of citation:
Most users not only applicable to newbies may not know the conventions of citation(intext, outtext, quotations, inclusion of url). If a user don't know this, the issue of plagiarism will become secondary. Factually some users will make it a habit to copying someones work verbatim and in the end include citation, thinking it is right.  I will be happy to see someone open a thread on the various ways of citation. 

6. Lack of Confidence:
Self low esteem can lead to plagiarism. When you don't believe yourself let alone your work. When you feel everyone's work is better than yours, when you want to be everyone else. This will give you the conviction that you are second to all, hence you will tend to plagiarism to be standard. 

7. Geographical differences:
As pointed out by @Lucius on my previous topic, he is of the opinion that why people plagiarism is how strict or lenient plagiarism is in their different countries. 

Quote from: Lucius on July 28, 2021, 01:02:50 PM

I believe that there are big differences between people from different parts of the world regarding the perception of plagiarism - home and school education play a big role here. 


8. Laziness: 
Sometimes a plagarist will be aware of the crime he is about committing, but due to laziness to cite the authors, or emanate a fresh idea, he/she will deliberately plagiarise. 

I think this will help Newbie's like me avoid plagiarism in the forum

HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM:

1. Read the forum rules before posting:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.msg7955645#msg7955645

2. Be Original:
One of the hardest thing to do in life is to live another man's version of life. If you toe this lane, you will end of being a learner throughout your stay here in the forum. When you are your original self, you will discover a part of you that other people will tend to plagiarise, either your tone, your humour or intellect. This will create a niche for you and plagiarism will cease to be part of you.

3. Post only when you have value to add:
Avoid jumping into every discussion, maybe in the quest to completing your weekly task. If you engage in a discussion you don't have value to add, you will see yourself paraphrasing and summarising people's comments to produce yours. Though you might not be punished because of this, but it's also a bad habit.

4. Always be conscious of plagiarism:
When you type with the consciousness of plagiarism, you will overcome what is called unintentional plagiarism. You will likely fall a victim if you don't consider it during your work.

5. Don't post immediately after a research:
Ensure you don't post immediately exiting a research room. If you do, you might likely find it difficult to differentiate your personal ideas and the ones gotten from research that needs to be cited.

6. Have a good time management:
All your works, written, audio, visual etc represents you. If you did it hastily, no one knows and will defend your weakness. Always give your best even when no one is watching, there might not be a second chance. Therefore, always use a good time to prepare your work, if there be things to be cited, you will have time to do so. By this plagiarism would be avoided.

7. Test run your work with plagiarism checker:
That feeling you have when you run your work through a plagiarism checker and discovered that your work is 0% plagiarised and 100% unique. This is what your indicters use, it will be cool you use it on yourself to know the quality of your post before publishing.

8. Cite the real Authors:
If you used someone's intellectual property, it's not big deal, cite the real owner and move your way.

[Luzin]

Unfortunately not everyone new to this forum wants to be like you. Says I joined here initially because I was invited to make money. But I realized it was wrong. I think most of the new members have a member doctrine here who is just looking for money.

In the end, the awareness you have for quality in writing will get the appreciation it deserves. But it definitely takes effort, there are no instant results.
In this forum you can grow or fall, you are in control, all members here already understand how to appreciate hard work and quality posts. So I think don't give up and keep trying even though I'm not as good as the seniors here in giving advice to you, because I'm still learning.

[noorman0]

To be knowledgeable, obviously you need to learn. To be meritable, sometimes you just need to be a bit controversial or interfere with someone, even though you get no benefit from that other than harming other people. This forum has some odd sides that have tainted the true purpose of the merit system. I just hope you are not interested in these actions and stick to the principle that knowledge is your goal.

[Rikafip]

Newbie account talking about knowledge>merit, which looks to me like yet another merit fishing attempt.

@Joy_learns_crypto is there any connection  between you and EzeBitcoin2002, another newbie that came to Beginners & Help section looking for some easy merit, and plagiarizing while doing so. It's just that after I called him out for plagiarizing, he suddenly disappeared (probably expecting that I will report him which i forgot to do) and your account was created.





Dunno, maybe I am wrong and I am just too paranoid, but I smell BS here.

[ifarted]

     Citing myself as an example with my first post on the forum, I have come to realise that searching for knowledge should come first before any other thing in the forum.
Merits should come when you make a good post, so focus on making quality and educating posts than looking for merits.

True educating yourself should always comes first for you to know and learn about the forum but looking for merits is not a bad thing either. There are a lot of people who offers merits for newbies for them to help you.

Making high quality post is not that easy, it requires a lot of effort and a lot of knowledge but as long as you practice there's nothing to fear. You can always try.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

Newbie account talking about knowledge>merit, which looks to me like yet another merit fishing attempt.

@Joy_learns_crypto is there any connection  between you and EzeBitcoin2002, another newbie that came to Beginners & Help section looking for some easy merit, and plagiarizing while doing so. It's just that after I called him out for plagiarizing, he suddenly disappeared (probably expecting that I will report him which i forgot to do) and your account was created.





Dunno, maybe I am wrong and I am just too paranoid, but I smell BS here

Firstly I would like to say I am also doing my personal work on plagiarism, I'm not too good in that. I want to understand more so that I cannot take someone else's content and use it as mine that's why the little I can give that's what I give.
Even before coming to this forum, in my school we have been taught about plagiarism in the research project we were given, they made it clear that its a criminal act to take another persons content and use it as mine.
To the accusation, I'm really shocked and speechless to say the least, I don't have anything or any link with anybody bearing Ezebitcoin and I don't see any resemblance between me and whoever the person is, so I would keep this brief and say no I am not Ezebitcoin and I don't have anything to do with the person.

[Lafu]

I want to understand more so that I cannot take someone else's content and use it as mine that's why the little I can give that's what I give.

You can use others content when you make a post or thread , just insert the source link to it and write your stuff to it.
Mostly Users get reported because they dont insert the Source link or where they got the content they have written.

Dunno, maybe I am wrong and I am just too paranoid, but I smell BS here.

I guess we will see it in the future if you paranoid or if you was right buddy 

[DdmrDdmr]

<…> Firstly I would like to say I am also doing my personal work on plagiarism, I'm not too good in that. I want to understand more so that I cannot take someone else's content and use it as mine that's why the little I can give that's what I give. <…>

Just to reiterate briefly on the concept: plagiarism here is simply performed in 99,9% of the cases by people trying to cut corners. They don’t know much about something, they may also not be good at expressing themselves in the language, they may be in a rush to meet some campaign quota, or whatever, and voilà ... the person copies a text, or fragment of a text, and pastes it here to save time, or to pretend to know something he doesn’t.

Now adding the correct reference link (I empathise correct, since I’ve seen people add a random link whilst copying the text from a different source) kind of gets you off the hook (perhaps not from the cero value post type report though).

The concept is trivial:

  Avoid:  Copy/[translate][spin]/paste.
  Go for: Summary, criticism, question, versed opinion, and anything along this line (if need be).

Ideally, if you need to show something verbatim, include it a quote type structure. Add the source link.

[jrrsparkles]

Newbie account talking about knowledge>merit, which looks to me like yet another merit fishing attempt.

@Joy_learns_crypto is there any connection  between you and EzeBitcoin2002, another newbie that came to Beginners & Help section looking for some easy merit, and plagiarizing while doing so. It's just that after I called him out for plagiarizing, he suddenly disappeared (probably expecting that I will report him which i forgot to do) and your account was created.





Dunno, maybe I am wrong and I am just too paranoid, but I smell BS here

Firstly I would like to say I am also doing my personal work on plagiarism, I'm not too good in that. I want to understand more so that I cannot take someone else's content and use it as mine that's why the little I can give that's what I give.
Even before coming to this forum, in my school we have been taught about plagiarism in the research project we were given, they made it clear that its a criminal act to take another persons content and use it as mine.
To the accusation, I'm really shocked and speechless to say the least, I don't have anything or any link with anybody bearing Ezebitcoin and I don't see any resemblance between me and whoever the person is, so I would keep this brief and say no I am not Ezebitcoin and I don't have anything to do with the person.

Plagiarism is not really something to be compared with the criminal act and if your school taught in that way then its wrong way, plagiarism is ethically wrong so no one should practice it but as long as they are giving credits to the original creator then its okay.

Also there is a lot of confusion between plagiarism and getting inspired by!

[tranthidung]

     I found out about merits from posts I see from Newbie's like me searching and crying for merits, saying merits are not shared properly, or wanting to know about merits so soon without even participating in the forum or reading the forums rules and regulations.

Merit system works properly after its kick-off in January 2018. More than 3 years and a half, it works to

• Help good members rank up
• be a barrier to prevent spammers to rank up

If you see any complain that merit is distributed inappropriately, such complain mostly come from spammers / bounty hunters who have less or zero contributions. Without contribution, no merit.

Please check out the advice from admin and my story as well as advice.

• Welcome message (I quoted important part)
• Promotion with merit system and new rank requirements. It's possible.

If you view the forum as some sort of "job" where you complete some basic tasks and get paid, then you will almost certainly be disappointed, and the forum administration will not be sympathetic. If you do make money using the forum, then it will be through innovation and entrepreneurship, not any sort of mindless busywork.

Forum rank

When you start out, you are a Newbie, and you will run into various annoying limits. These limits will be reduced to the point where you shouldn't usually notice them after you have participated in the forum for a few weeks. If you are on the forum to talk, then that's all you really need to know about rank. Don't worry about it too much, and you will eventually rank up.

If you want to maximize your rank, then you need to increase two statistics which are listed on your profile:

• Activity, which is maximized by posting once per day on average. Posting more than that is useless in raising your activity.
• Merit, which is gained by making good posts.

If you make ten thousand posts in a week, your activity will be capped and you will still be a Newbie. If you make ten thousand useless posts over any period of time, you will gain zero merit and you will still be a Newbie. You can rank up only by making good posts consistently. It's quality over quantity.

When trying to write quality posts, a lot of people act as though they're writing a book report for school: putting facts that we already know into their own words. Nobody wants to read that, and you will not get merit for it. Moreover, the length of your post and the quality of your English are only minor factors. In trying to write a quality post worthy of merit, you should offer new ideas, personal experiences, or perspectives that other forum users will actually find new and interesting.

Another advice, your topic title is bad.

• You should not capitalize all words in the title like that.
• Please check below topics to improve your posting style
  
  • Topic title style guide
  • Bitcointalk posting etiquette
  • Make your topic title, posts more attractive

[nakamura12]

You don't have to focus on earning merits after you have finished seeking knowledge about crypto space. My advise to you is you should continue seeking knowledge and learn then you try your best to help in any way you possibly know to help other people who are struggling to understand and learn then you'll get merits when you do it.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Firstly I would like to say I am also doing my personal work on plagiarism, I'm not too good in that. I want to understand more so that I cannot take someone else's content and use it as mine that's why the little I can give that's what I give.

I will tell you a very simple trick on how to avoid plagiarism, and not later cry for the fact that there was a ban.
Just write. Don't look anywhere at other sources, don't copy from anywhere, close all pages, and write your post. I doubt that it is possible to fully remember something exactly with the original so that later it would pass for plagiarism (I exclude memorization). Write in your own words what you think, ask, do not try to be what you are not.

[aysg76]

Merit system works properly after its kick-off in January 2018. More than 3 years and a half, it works to

• Help good members rank up
• be a barrier to prevent spammers to rank up

If you see any complain that merit is distributed inappropriately, such complain mostly come from spammers / bounty hunters who have less or zero contributions. Without contribution, no merit.

Setting up this whole merit system have a particular aim and that goal have been achieved to some extent like spammers are not able to rank up to higher rank although they still make such posts but wasting their time on such posts as it won't benefit them.Many newbies and even high rank members leave the forum after the introduction of merit system because they were not able to make quality posts and there were restrictions on joining signature campaign with merits and the main purpose of those members got vanished and they left out.But all you have to do is knowledge sharing and keep the post quality high by sharing useful information with others and learning.You will eventually rewarded merit for them.

As mentioned by other members just add the source link and put anything you copy in quote and write the authors name also if possible which shows you are not claiming the wall of text your own and that would not come under any rule violations which you maybe familiar with.Post anything what is in your mind but don't spam up and share relevant information which will be beneficial for you.Rest choice is yours.

[sujonali1819]

I will tell you a very simple trick on how to avoid plagiarism, and not later cry for the fact that there was a ban.
Just write. Don't look anywhere at other sources, don't copy from anywhere, close all pages, and write your post. I doubt that it is possible to fully remember something exactly with the original so that later it would pass for plagiarism (I exclude memorization). Write in your own words what you think, ask, do not try to be what you are not.

One of my friend here ask me about how he avoid plagiarism and he said me also if he write something without copy a single text from internet but sometime it looks like something match with the post. I just say him lol! How it could happen if you don't copy from where.

Maybe this was the reason that he maybe read all post in that thread and try to type the idea what actually he got from the previous replies.

[mk4]

Plagiarism is not really something to be compared with the criminal act and if your school taught in that way then its wrong way, plagiarism is ethically wrong so no one should practice it but as long as they are giving credits to the original creator then its okay.

Also there is a lot of confusion between plagiarism and getting inspired by!

Then you should probably look up what the definition of "plagiarism" is because it seems like you're also confused in this case.

Posting with source/credit: sharing (not plagiarism, assuming properly cited)
Posting without source/credit: plagiarism (can definitely get you in serious problems, depending on local laws)

[The Cryptovator]

If newbies only focus on how to get merits then most probably they will regret it. It's true to become an established member of the forum merit is a mandatory part. Because merit determines the quality of your post and describes your contribution to the forum. If a newbie concentrate to learn and contribute to the forum in the right way, then merit will follow him. And suddenly claim as a good contributor and expect merit is unrealistic thought. It will take time to match ourselves with forum culture, especially for newbies. We don't know each other here, so your contribution will introduce you to us. This is my thought for newbies. Because I was a newbie once a time and I know how hard is to earn merit if you aren't a good contributor to the forum.

[Igebotz]

OP you need to work on your quoting because we don't know who you're replying/responding to, you're quoting incorrectly. When using this quoting style, the first quote must include the author's name and a link. For reference, you can always look over my previous posts.

And here's some advice: we've had enough of Newbies' advice, which is becoming annoying because so many of them break their own rules, so it's time to get serious about what brought you to the forum. I'm sure you didn't sign up to teach us what we already know ( rules). The fun is finished, so get serious out there.

[Masplanc]

They said knowledge is the principal thing. With knowledge Merit can be required. But not all merit are obtained by knowledge