Back in 2019 he made merit sources out of a bunch of members who hadn't even applied, me included
Just out of curiosity, did you just log in one day and notice that you were a merit source or was there some level of communication about it beforehand?
Also, in your defense the fact that you didn't abandon the forum altogether says something about what it means to you
I don't spend my time doing anything that I don't want to be doing; Spending time on this forum again is an active decision I made, because I missed that part of my life and I've grown enough as a person that I believe I can avoid the same pitfalls.
Leaving the forum permanently was never my intention, but there was some lessons to learn and some life to live outside of the forum before I could feel confident in my ability to be a contributing member.
I've seen alot of effort you've put on together to help merit deserving posts. I also appreciate your years of experience being on the forum since 2014 till date despite your absence
Thank you for your recognition and support.
1. What is your personal conviction that prompted your application for a merit source?
I'm applying to become a merit source because meriting quality posts is something that has always been rewarding to me. That's why pugman and I started a Q&A thread/games to reward knowledgeable low-ranking members with merit that they deserve. This is the same reason I sponsored the "Signatureless Campaign", to help prevent spam and give incentive for users to contribute high-quality posts without a typical signature campaign and it is also why I gave out merit to dozens of threads in my "sMerit review" thread. I have been dedicated since the inception of merit to dishing it out to those that deserve it.
2. If your application is considered, what plan do you have in place towards an effective use of this opportunity?
There are plenty of creative ways to dish out merit, and I'm sure those will come into play - but I believe my most typical use for merit would be simply dishing it out to under merited posts during my normal usage of the forum. I may come up with some interesting games or productive ways to reward deserving users, but right now whenever I come across a thread/post that is deserving of merit I have none to give and I simply keep browsing. That situation happens regularly and it's coming at a cost to contributing members.