[POLL] Should there be a 🍀 BTC AIRDROP 🍀 to Bitcointalk Merit Sources

[Agbe]

Even though merit source is a voluntary job, the outstanding merit sources should be rewarded with either another 500+ smerits when the first allocation has finished or a token of Bitcoin from the admin. There are some merits sources can not finished half of the smerits give to them in the month while some finished it within one week, some even asked for extra to meet the request from users. I support the motion of rewarding the best and outstanding merit sources in the forum, I believed with that others who hodling their smerits allocated to will sit up and do the needful and why they were accepted has merit sources.
And those who are not doing well as merit sources should be removed and new ones who are really ready to work should be approved.

[Igebotz]

Even though merit source is a voluntary job, the outstanding merit sources should be rewarded with either another 500+ smerits when the first allocation has finished or a token of Bitcoin from the admin. There are some merits sources can not finished half of the smerits give to them in the month while some finished it within one week, some even asked for extra to meet the request from users. I support the motion of rewarding the best and outstanding merit sources in the forum, I believed with that others who hodling their smerits allocated to will sit up and do the needful and why they were accepted has merit sources.
And those who are not doing well as merit sources should be removed and new ones who are really ready to work should be approved.

It is not a job; it is a volunteer community service with no monetary value; if a user feels the need to be paid to distribute his source merits, that user does not deserve to be a merit source and should give up; it is not a difficult job in any case, and there are hundreds of pending applicants ^{[including mine]} who are willing to serve the community for free. If there are any future rewards, the spam busters deserve them because they do a more difficult job cleaning the forum.

[Pandu Geddon]

I don't think that's a good idea. Merit sources do everything voluntarily. even created a thread for them to review. so they don't have to bother looking for posts worth sharing.
They did have a very busy schedule when it came to distributing Merits. but they realized that they did it to support the running of this system. Merit sources are people who care about forums. but rewards in the form of BTC airdrops or money will not be great for what they do. I'm sure the Merit source doesn't want that either.

[Igebotz]

I don't think that's a good idea. Merit sources do everything voluntarily. even created a thread for them to review. so they don't have to bother looking for posts worth sharing.
They did have a very busy schedule when it came to distributing Merits. but they realized that they did it to support the running of this system. Merit sources are people who care about forums. but rewards in the form of BTC airdrops or money will not be great for what they do. I'm sure the Merit source doesn't want that either.

I'm sure the 7 who voted to be paid are merit sources; I don't think any non-merit source would take such a stance, and 1 or 2 merit sources have already expressed an interest in being paid to distribute. I would propose that they give the most active merit source a monthly or yearly reward (a badge) to thank them for helping to make the system what it is today.

No job should be taken for granted but.... No monetary value.

[NotATether]

Merit system has been in place for almost 5 years now, with absolutely no reward / compensation for the Merit Sources who have done overall an ok job to maintain some semblance of meritocracy in this legendary forum.

I guess you weren't around before the Merit system. I see a better forum with less spam, which is a great reward!

a direct reward by the admin (@theymos) towards well performing sources would be a great incentive and accolade for them to do an even better job.

As the #2 most generous merit sender, and as a Bitcoin HODLer, I say: yes! But as a forum user, I think this would give a very bad incentive to Merit sources, so NO! And don't even get me started on the drama it will create.

Besides, it would incentivize users to "apply" to be a merit source only to squat on their smerit allocation, or worse: it could be silently laundered to farm accounts in case merit sources were to be subsidized in proportion to the amount of smerit sent.

[LoyceV]

Besides, it would incentivize users to "apply" to be a merit source only to squat on their smerit allocation, or worse: it could be silently laundered to farm accounts in case merit sources were to be subsidized in proportion to the amount of smerit sent.

That brings account farming to a whole new level: 6 on DT1, 12 on DT2, 8 of them are Mods and all 18 Merit sources

[NotATether]

Besides, it would incentivize users to "apply" to be a merit source only to squat on their smerit allocation, or worse: it could be silently laundered to farm accounts in case merit sources were to be subsidized in proportion to the amount of smerit sent.

That brings account farming to a whole new level: 6 on DT1, 12 on DT2, 8 of them are Mods and all 18 Merit sources

Yeah and at that point, the entire DT system would be fucked as well (I know there are people who already think that it's broken, but trust me: You haven't seen the worst yet. But let's keep it that way for our own sanity's sake.)

[skarais]

What do you guys think ? I believe when used constructively and virtuously, merit is a fantastic tool to encourage higher quality and intellect in crypto space,

Honestly it's true, merit system has encourage more quality among users especially for those who still need rank. Also, the merit system has made the forum less spamming, but of course every system will never be perfect but at least it has helped.

and a direct reward by the admin (@theymos) towards well performing sources would be a great incentive and accolade for them to do an even better job.

Something like custom badge might be conceivable, but since the merit system was introduced I don't think theymos ever announced anyone on their list until people found out based on their stats. Some merit sources now publicly announce that they are sources, but others remain private even though they are known. So somehow I don't agree with incentivizing bitcoin as a reward for merit source, but maybe good for a badge.

[dkbit98]

This is not working position so I don't think this is a good idea. and minutes after theymos would implement this in action we would have big flood of new merit course applications.
I understand paying someone for being active moderator, responding to all reports, deleting stuff, movinng posts, etc. but forum would not function without mods.
Everything can work perfectly fine without infamous merit sources.

Yeah and at that point, the entire DT system would be fucked as well (I know there are people who already think that it's broken, but trust me: You haven't seen the worst yet. But let's keep it that way for our own sanity's sake.)

DT system is arguably already fucked up and broken  thanks to JG and other members like him, but paying to merit sources would be the final nail in DT system coffin.

[Agbe]

There are some merits sources that are hodling the source merits while some are sharing them very effective. And we are saying that the once that are effective charitable should be rewarded with a token to motivate and awaken the ones that not sending them out and if those are not still sending them out they should be removed and approved other applicants.

It is not a job; it is a volunteer community service with no monetary value; if a user feels the need to be paid to distribute his source merits, that user does not deserve to be a merit source and should give up; it is not a difficult job in any case, and there are hundreds of pending applicants ^{[including mine]} who are willing to serve the community for free. If there are any future rewards, the spam busters deserve them because they do a more difficult job cleaning the forum.

I'm sure the 7 who voted to be paid are merit sources; I don't think any non-merit source would take such a stance, and 1 or 2 merit sources have already expressed an interest in being paid to distribute. I would propose that they give the most active merit source a monthly or yearly reward (a badge) to thank them for helping to make the system what it is today.

No job should be taken for granted but.... No monetary value.

Comrade, frankly speaking, I don't understand these your two comments because your first comment looks as if it's against the request while the second comment is like supporting it again. So when saw it I am confused.

[Igebotz]

It is not a job; it is a volunteer community service with no monetary value; if a user feels the need to be paid to distribute his source merits, that user does not deserve to be a merit source and should give up; it is not a difficult job in any case, and there are hundreds of pending applicants ^{[including mine]} who are willing to serve the community for free. If there are any future rewards, the spam busters deserve them because they do a more difficult job cleaning the forum.

I'm sure the 7 who voted to be paid are merit sources; I don't think any non-merit source would take such a stance, and 1 or 2 merit sources have already expressed an interest in being paid to distribute. I would propose that they give the most active merit source a monthly or yearly reward (a badge) to thank them for helping to make the system what it is today.

No job should be taken for granted but.... No monetary value.

Comrade, frankly speaking, I don't understand these your two comments because your first comment looks as if it's against the request while the second comment is like supporting it again. So when saw it I am confused.

In my second comment on this thread, I proposed a non-monetary value system, which is the badge to be given to the monthly or yearly most active and most distributed as a piece of reward for good work. Are you still confused?

[NotATether]

In my second comment on this thread, I proposed a non-monetary value system, which is the badge to be given to the monthly or yearly most active and most distributed as a piece of reward for good work. Are you still confused?

I actually do not like this idea either because then everybody will be able to easily see who the merit sources are, and then their message inboxes will be marooned by newbies and other low-rank users asking for merit.

This link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources lists merit source stats but it does not list who the merit sources are.

[Igebotz]

In my second comment on this thread, I proposed a non-monetary value system, which is the badge to be given to the monthly or yearly most active and most distributed as a piece of reward for good work. Are you still confused?

I actually do not like this idea either because then everybody will be able to easily see who the merit sources are, and then their message inboxes will be marooned by newbies and other low-rank users asking for merit.

This link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources lists merit source stats but it does not list who the merit sources are.

Are merit sources supposed to remain anonymous? If that's what theymos wanted, the mode of application would be through PM rather than Meta, and I wouldn't mind if newbies sent me a PM asking me to review their post history; it makes the work easier anyway. Isn't that what other merits sources are already doing?

[Pmalek]

I actually do not like this idea either because then everybody will be able to easily see who the merit sources are, and then their message inboxes will be marooned by newbies and other low-rank users asking for merit.

It's not that difficult to find them because we already have several threads where some names are correctly listed. Older ones, but still. I am not going to link to any for the same reason that you mentioned. There is one thread that is regularly updated and shows a list of members who distribute the most merits per month. That one reveal a lot. Other "suspects" can be identified by checking their received/sent counts.

[Falconer]

Are merit sources supposed to remain anonymous?

That is the choice of each source of merit, but they are unable to remain anonymous from the many users who are aware of its existence. As others have said, there are several threads to see who the merit source are on this forum, so they are not anonymous but probably not widely known to most newbies.

Isn't that what other merits sources are already doing?

Yes, and some others open thread to get some good posts by reporting them like LoyceV, fillippone, Ratimov and others.

[Lafu]

In my second comment on this thread, I proposed a non-monetary value system, which is the badge to be given to the monthly or yearly most active and most distributed as a piece of reward for good work. Are you still confused?

Bad idea i think , because who defines what good work is or how most active and most distributed to the Forum and the community.
There are some Users that dont write much but reporting a lot and hide in the background.

I actually do not like this idea either because then everybody will be able to easily see who the merit sources are, and then their message inboxes will be marooned by newbies and other low-rank users asking for merit.

The most merit sources are already known and can be spotted easly if you know where you have to look for.

I support the motion of rewarding the best and outstanding merit sources in the forum

To answer the OPs question in the thread title , not a good idea to airdrop or reward BTC to Merit Sources.
Maybe a reward in form of Merits would be a good idea.

[fillippone]

Mixed feeling here.

As LoyceV said, of course I would like to stack more sats, basically doing what I already doing for free.

There is one aspect that would make it worse: being paid to do something is like a job; and a job requires a contract, and standards to be followed.

I now enjoy the possibility of deciding what to do with my merits what I think it is in the best interest of the forum.
If I were paid, I guess I couldn’t have the same freedom.

Maybe those constraint wouldn’t be so tight, maybe yes. It would be different by the way.

I answered “curious” to the idea. But I fear that there would be many unintended consequences to this, risking breaking something it has been working pretty much effectively since a few years.

[Awaklara]

Are merit sources supposed to remain anonymous? If that's what theymos wanted, the mode of application would be through PM rather than Meta, and I wouldn't mind if newbies sent me a PM asking me to review their post history; it makes the work easier anyway. Isn't that what other merits sources are already doing?

I agree with you, what is the underlying reason for the Merit Source to remain anonymous? while we can see how the history of sMerit is sent. we can find out which accounts are indeed Merit Sources.
no matter how many accounts make PM for review, when it does not meet the standards of the Merit Source, they will not get Merit.
some Merit sources create threads for anyone to review. we can see several Merit Sources open to anyone trying to raise their rank.

BTC airdrop for Merit source is not good enough I guess. the badge will look more good.

[lovesmayfamilis]

OP, let's not evaluate every action in terms of money. What about the concept of "volunteering"? Nevertheless, being a merit source is quite a responsible job, and it only seems to many that it can be easy. As we sometimes see, users keep their merits to create a separate topic for distribution in the future. Some merit sources cover a huge amount of information to find good posts. Sometimes, it seems that these people do not sleep at all. And yet, this forum has become a common and favorite platform for us, which can be compared to a beloved home. Will we ask for payment for the cleanliness of the house and its maintenance?

[skarais]

Mixed feeling here.

As LoyceV said, of course I would like to stack more sats, basically doing what I already doing for free.

There is one aspect that would make it worse: being paid to do something is like a job; and a job requires a contract, and standards to be followed.

I now enjoy the possibility of deciding what to do with my merits what I think it is in the best interest of the forum.
If I were paid, I guess I couldn’t have the same freedom.

Maybe those constraint wouldn’t be so tight, maybe yes. It would be different by the way.

I answered “curious” to the idea. But I fear that there would be many unintended consequences to this, risking breaking something it has been working pretty much effectively since a few years.

If merit source are paid for, then I'm sure there will be a lot of drama going on in this forum about merit system. No more freedom, you'll be sued for send all those sMrits all the time and I'll most likely even see dozens of the same thread asking why x-name's merit source hasn't send any merit in the last 24 hours. Lol

But I believe, every forum contributor deserves to get something more for his volunteer work. It wasn't all about money, but maybe something else.