Should Merit-Sources send merit based on their feelings or quality of the post?

[BabyBandit]

-----Emotions-----Opinions-----Fact------

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone.

UPDATE 18th November: I now been on the forum a bit longer then the time I created this topic and I truly believe being a Merit-Source is not as easy or fun as it may look like.
So I want to take the time to say Thank you to all Merit-Sources that seeing this with neutral eyes! 🙏

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[_act_]

You know humans, if they do not like someone, they will not do anything in favour of the person they dislike. And can theymos know, he can not know. But we have 109 merit source with approximately 33940 smerits given by theymos almost every 30 days. If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

[PytagoraZ]

~snip~

Don't talk too seriously about merit sources, especially if your current account doesn't have much merit. Because later there will be people who comment that you are asking for merit. Yes, many people like to speculate and accuse, but when they are invited to discuss and argue, they disappear and don't come back again

Merit sources can send their merits to anyone. That is their right because merit is subjective and not moderated

[digaran]

What is "farming" you refer to in your posts? Do you have live stocks, is it a wheat farm or ? Lol
If by farming you mean account/merit farming then you are in the wrong place, you should go to bounties board, so many fruitless opportunities are present. Neither farming nor bounties have any future.  To answer your question, merit sources should cry while meriting someone they don't like, and laugh otherwise.😂

Honestly unbiased sources are rare, but I hope they keep it that way. For example(rhetorically as if I'm a source) "I wanted to merit your post but mentioning "farming" made me think twice, which I will keep on my mind anytime I see your posts.  However if you contribute selflessly, I might change my mind."
Edit: alright you got me, I'm an old dota fan, never liked WOW, just don't refer to farming, it's considered a bad thing around here.😉

[BabyBandit]

What is "farming" you refer to in your posts? Do you have live stocks, is it a wheat farm or ? Lol
If by farming you mean account/merit farming then you are in the wrong place, you should go to bounties board, so many fruitless opportunities are present. Neither farming nor bounties have any future.  To answer your question, merit sources should cry while meriting someone they don't like, and laugh otherwise.😂

Farming. You farm your way up to something, whatever it is. it's a term I got from when I played World of Warcraft.
Here you farm your way up to Legendary rank, but you do it the right way. That's farming for me.
Farming is not a negative or bad thing. Farming is something that take long long time, example in the game World of Warcraft you maybe farm gold, or better gear.
And I have no need to go to bounties board. Thanks anyway.

~snip~

Don't talk too seriously about merit sources, especially if your current account doesn't have much merit. Because later there will be people who comment that you are asking for merit. Yes, many people like to speculate and accuse, but when they are invited to discuss and argue, they disappear and don't come back again

Merit sources can send their merits to anyone. That is their right because merit is subjective and not moderated

If a person think this post is about to getting merits to me, they should go to sleep bro.  
I never ask for a merit anywhere and never will.  
But see you, you asked for merit I can see and got like 50 free merits. So maybe it's not so bad at all?  
To be serious, I will never ask or beg anyone for a single merit, as I said. I love the journey and will farm my way slowly up.. let it take years, it don't bother me. I am in no rush to rank up here.

Love BabyBandit.

[hugeblack]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

What is the problem? I disagree with some members in the forum, but they perform a good role in other boards or in local boards. If a person spams or does something that I do not like, I will be put him on my ignore list, but there are more than 100 Merit source members and I sent merits to many other members who can sent 1/2 of it to that account.
If that account is on everyone's ignore list, the problem is with you.

[alani123]

Depends on how strict you are when defining what counts as emotion.

For example, it is widely accepted that meriting in local boards that you speak the language of is a good thing. There are several reasons for that. For one there are tons of people that use bitcoin around the world but most of these forum is for English speaking audiences only. Local bitcointalk communities for countries where there are thousands of bitcoin and crypto users are nowhere near the level of activity said country and language might have. So meriting local community participants to encourage them rank and to and bring more quality global traffic on this forum is going to be all around beneficial.

However, what is it that drives one to appreciate and want to reward usage of his mother tongue? In part it is emotion for sure...

In the end I don't think we should be judging people's emotions too harshly. We all have them, we all think based on emotion to an extent. The thing is to not overdo it.

[Gladitorcomeback]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

This is the main point you want to ask but you repeated same point again and again. Merit source giving merit on the base of  posting quality and how one post value to other forum members regardless of who is behind the account. No one know who is managing the account and no need of disclose . often you will see that Merit are given to the people which post style is align to one.

If i were Merit source definitely I would give Merit on the base of posting quality and there it hold no significant wheather I like user or not. The People I don't know if bring best thing which i like will get definitely Merit from me.

[shahzadafzal]

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

What you mean by feelings? Feelings for what?

Feelings for the usernames? Like Baby Bandit oh I should send him some merits ... I don't think so

Well we aren't posting our selfies here and I don't think someone will develop feelings for someone based on bitcoin price, unless you know him/her personally.

Secondly I think merit sources and sMerit senders are same while sending merits just merit source have some extra merits to send.

[tranthidung]

If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

Merit should be awarded to posts that are quality or high quality and a forum member should not use it as same as Like on Facebook or Twitter. It is applied for all types of forum members including merit sources.

I'm hoping that this system will increase post quality by:
 - Forcing people to post high-quality stuff in order to rank up. If you just post garbage, you will never get even 1 merit point, and you will therefore never be able to put links in your signature, etc.
 - Highlighting good posts with the "Merited by" line.

While we will not be directly moderating this, I encourage people to give merit to posts that are objectively high-quality, not just posts that you agree with.

But remember.

Do not beg for merit excessively.

Merit sources are human, not bots so they do have emotional when distributing their sourced sendable merits (sMerits) but it is not big issue. If your posts are good, you will receive merit from merit sources or non merit sourced users.

There are 109 merit sources so why do you worry about one or two merit sources dislike you?

[lovesmayfamilis]

First, remove the word "should."
Each merit source acts at its own discretion. Someone gives out merits of 50 pieces, and I doubt that people who receive such a number of merits are among the favorites; someone distributes merits even for plagiarism; and someone will give merit to an account with a negative tag.
The word “should” is inappropriate here, since you cannot influence a person to do something if he does not agree with it. But I like merit sources that distribute merit without delving into emotions. If a post is good on the topic, you can earn it, just like if there is a good joke and it deserves merit.
There are a lot of questions in Meta this week about sources of merit. Why does it seem to me that one person sometimes answers himself? Sometimes you can hide behind an alternative account, but the behavior remains the same.

[Plaguedeath]

I can say most of merit sources are objective, while most of non merit sources are subjective.

Example:
1. A merit source with 5K merits give someone merit, then this user will merit back the merit source in the next post or other post because he want to make the merit source notice to him or giving more merit.

2. Someone only meriting or give more merit to their gangs or friends, but the other users who create a same or higher quality from their gangs or friends will not receive higher merits.

Since giving merit like that will not result in ban or negative feedback, we can only accept this culture.

[PytagoraZ]

First, remove the word "should."
Each merit source acts at its own discretion. Someone gives out merits of 50 pieces, and I doubt that people who receive such a number of merits are among the favorites; someone distributes merits even for plagiarism; and someone will give merit to an account with a negative tag.
The word “should” is inappropriate here, since you cannot influence a person to do something if he does not agree with it. But I like merit sources that distribute merit without delving into emotions. If a post is good on the topic, you can earn it, just like if there is a good joke and it deserves merit.
There are a lot of questions in Meta this week about sources of merit. Why does it seem to me that one person sometimes answers himself? Sometimes you can hide behind an alternative account, but the behavior remains the same.

I remember one time I gave a merit to a person who had 5 negative tags  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5464515.msg62878051#msg62878051

[tranthidung]

I can say most of merit sources are objective, while most of non merit sources are subjective.

Both merit source members and non merit source members use their sMerits, distributing sMerits subjectively and objectively and I am sure you will not find any member only use sMerit subjectively or only do it objectively.

1. A merit source with 5K merits give someone merit, then this user will merit back the merit source in the next post or other post because he want to make the merit source notice to him or giving more merit.

It is unofficial merit begging but if that poster has good posts, he does not do anything bad. Merit system is designed to highlight good posts with Merit.

2. Someone only meriting or give more merit to their gangs or friends, but the other users who create a same or higher quality from their gangs or friends will not receive higher merits.

I guess you want to say if you have friends, local communities, you can more easily earn merit or exchange merit and it is true.

Your post does not express this opinion well. This phrase "but the other users who create a same or higher quality from their gangs or friends will not receive higher merits." should be
but the other users who create a same or higher quality but don't have their gangs or friends will not receive higher merits.

Correct me if my guess is wrong.

[jokers10]

Example: Two users are posting very good posts and both deserve merit, should the merit-source give both merit? In my opinion yes! But what if he dislike one and like the other one?
I mean that their actions should not be controlled by feelings, it should be controlled by fact and their opinions if the post is worthy or not, but not because they are friend or enemy with someone.

Merit source can do as he supposes right as long as does it the way admin sees correct. And that's all. Of course many see the work of merit source the same way (including sources), so usually sources give merits for what they think will make forum a better place for us all (it's your position that two posts are equally good, others could see it the other way). If you think that your own vision has not enough support from existing sources, then make your own application and show what valuable posts are underrated and if you'll get some support then theymos can probably give you such an opportunity.

[un_rank]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

Yes, they are allowed to be controlled by their feelings. It is a voluntary responsibility they undertake, so they are giving lots of wiggle room.

Merit sources are judged for merits they give and not merits they do not give. You will almost certainly not know if a source was avoiding your post. If you perceive they are, (like you commenting on a post with a helpful comment and someone repeats your post immediately after you which gets a merit but you don't), you still cannot fault the merit source for that.

In a flawless system sources should be 100% objective in how they distribute their smerits. They should be blind to prejudice and only merit the post and not the user, they should even merit posts they do not agree with if the argument is deserving of it. But we do not an ideal or flawless system here.

- Jay -

[MainIbem]

I have just gone through your post a little bit without wasting much of my time, merits is something that you don't attached feelings when distributing it to people. Let say for instance, if I am a merits source i might sets a limits I could be giving out so that I won't spend it in an unnecessary post and comments. I can decides to be giving out on 2 merits per post no matter how constructive the post seems to be, or I can decide to be giving out 4 and this also depends on your allocation per months, there are some people whose allocation could be 1k merits per months while some 100 or 200 respectively. Those who are with 1k merits can be more generous to people than those who has limited allocation so in my opinion there's no feeling attached to it the only thing is how much merits left with the user.

[KingsDen]

Whatever humans do, emotion and feelings are always involved. Even if there is a rule stating that no merit source should attach sentiments when meriting posts, it cannot successfully be implemented. I remember a merit source that was always checking my profile for quality posts, on having a lil misunderstanding with him, he stopped sending me merits till date. It is just natural and there is nothing you can do about it. But it is only a few people who does the correct thing irrespective of feelings.

Take for another instance, there are merits source comes out of a debate or argument defeated, yet the send merits to their rivals posts, acknowledging the opponents ability. But some will because of the debate and maybe place you on an ignore list

[m2017]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources.

Do merits make newcomers think about it even at night and give them no rest? I understand that at low ranks there is a lot of thinking about merit, but at least sometimes need to not think about it.

If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

The question, of course, is addressed to merit-sources, but I assume that every merit-source has the right to act as he considers necessary and correct.

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I think not a single merit-source "should" anything. How to distribute merit, with or without feelings, is a purely personal privilege burden and responsibility. But I would also be interested to know what guides merit-sources in such cases, purely out of curiosity. Let's try to wait for a response from at least one of them.

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.

Do you have any other choice?

But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

The word “should” hurts the eyes in your text.

I have a counter question: what is a “good post”? Each user will evaluate this differently. For some the post is “good”, for others it is “bad”. Any award of merit to merit-sources’s users will be a purely subjective decision. There is no need to expect objectivity in this. This is neither good nor bad, but a fact this forum users “should” preferably accept.

[philipma1957]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

Yes they should but only if they feel the post is good.

The feelings they have for a person should not be in the way one way or another.

BTW I feel the question is good and even though you struggle with English you efforted to make sense so I gave you 2 merits.

[SamReomo]

~Snip~

Yes they should but only if they feel the post is good.

The feelings they have for a person should not be in the way one way or another.

BTW I feel the question is good and even though you struggle with English you efforted to make sense so I gave you 2 merits.

That's a great statement philipma1957 and yeah I believe that a merit source should always merit the posts that deserve to get merits and in fact most of the times the merit sources do give merits to the posts that they like, but I still doubt that if they dislike a member then they might not give merits the posts of that member. Most of the time when a user of the forum or in this case a merit source, doesn't like the posting style of a user will most probably put that user in his/her ignore list and when someone is in a merit source's ignore list then that particular merit source will never give merits to that user even if he/she makes a best post that can help so many people.

I believe that a merit source should never add someone in their ignore list if they really want to be helpful to everyone. That's what I think, I don't know others will agree with me or not, but if the merit sources give merits due to someone's contribution then they would never add anyone in their ignore list. Because sometimes the members with low quality posts can also contribute some helpful posts. Sometimes it may be hard for some members to make good posts because English isn't their native language but still they try their best to make posts in English and in that case such members can sometime make good posts as well.

[_BlackStar]

I believe that a merit source should never add someone in their ignore list if they really want to be helpful to everyone. That's what I think, I don't know others will agree with me or not, but if the merit sources give merits due to someone's contribution then they would never add anyone in their ignore list. Because sometimes the members with low quality posts can also contribute some helpful posts. Sometimes it may be hard for some members to make good posts because English isn't their native language but still they try their best to make posts in English and in that case such members can sometime make good posts as well.

Yes - this is what most spammers expect, but I'm sure there are many spammers already on the merit source ignore list. Merit sources on the one hand are ordinary users who carry out the voluntary task of distributing sMerit - meaning they have the right to take advantage of any features the forum offers them, including ignoring certain users. Ignored users aren't random, of course - they're just select users they think are worth ignoring.

Theymos has warned anyone in this quote:

I'm hoping that this system will increase post quality by:
 - Forcing people to post high-quality stuff in order to rank up. If you just post garbage, you will never get even 1 merit point, and you will therefore never be able to put links in your signature, etc.

[aysg76]

Sometimes you don't agree with the posts but still you hand out merits because the content was good and have seen many sources giving this statement.But on a general note if you think post quality is good and contributed something useful to you or a community as a whole you give merits to that post.They all have different criterias for it handing out merits to each post and sometimes they agree sometimes they don't.

[Shamm]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

Everyone has a feelings so without a doubt merits source have a feelings too and for sure theres a time they will use it to give their sMerits. Cause in this forum there are many attitude we've encounter which means some of it we will not like and once it will happen then our feelings dictate our doings. Anyways not all people follows there's feelings  so in this case merit source give there sMerits to those worthy user here in this forum .

[BabyBandit]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

Yes they should but only if they feel the post is good.

The feelings they have for a person should not be in the way one way or another.

BTW I feel the question is good and even though you struggle with English you efforted to make sense so I gave you 2 merits.

Thanks a lot! and I agree with you. Merit should only be giving out to a good post and feelings should not be in the way for handle out merit to a good post.

-

Ok dude.

Sometimes you don't agree with the posts but still you hand out merits because the content was good and have seen many sources giving this statement.But on a general note if you think post quality is good and contributed something useful to you or a community as a whole you give merits to that post.They all have different criterias for it handing out merits to each post and sometimes they agree sometimes they don't.

This is how it should be, on point.

[SmartGold01]

Emotion controls the heart and inner reasoning of a man especially women like us, sometimes when giving out merits I looks at how funny or creative and helpful it to me. But whenever I am out of merits I can give 1 or 2 to my levels because I can only spend the little that I have. But those who has large numbers of merits can give out larger amount to people maybe depending on how much they have in their custody but merits is a thing that is meant to be spent not to hold.

Sometimes I do surprise you will see someone who writes very well but doesn't receive merits just because such person has not gain ground yet or is not known to the forum that much. Apparently I can say our emotions controls our acts of giving out merits but that doesn't mean, although some people are usually cool with 1 only maybe to reach a wider numbers of people who needs it, some people can decide to be giving lower rank to encourage them to grow if they noticed such people post very well.

[Stalker22]

Merit-sources are supposed to look at the quality of a post, not who wrote it.  The whole point of merit is to reward good post that helps the community, even if it comes from someone you do not like.  but let us be real, we all have our preferences and can be hard to be totally fair and unbiased.
I mean there arent any hard rules here. Some merit-sources try harder than others to stay objective.  The important thing is using merit to recognize people who are making this place better, not just your buddies.  Easier said than done though.  We are only human.  

[nutildah]

I'm a little bit more careful who I give merits to these days as I feel like I've been burned by too many users trying to rank up alt accounts. Sure, you're allowed to have alt accounts but it feels a bit dishonest when people try to pretend that they are not themselves. I've even seen accounts that I know are alts talking to themselves, lol.

It probably goes without saying but users who have less-than-forthright intentions, write bad posts, or are just a-holes are going to be less likely to get merits than honest, constructive, pleasant users... Its just human nature, and its something that can't be changed.

[Rruchi man]

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

To be selected as a merit source amongst other users can be likened to a leadership position that has been handed to you, and as a leader it is not expected you lead with sentiments and emotions. You lead the territory that you are leader of and try as much as you can to be fair to everyone under it. A good leader separates emotions and sentiments from leadership, same goes for a merit source. As a merit source of a board, it is your duty and something expected of you to be fair in your distribution of merits to quality topics and contributions in that board regardless of your personal opinion of the person who has made the post/contribution. Your ability to separate emotions and sentiments from your distribution of merits makes you a good merit source that deserves to continue.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

It probably goes without saying but users who have less-than-forthright intentions, write bad posts, or are just a-holes are going to be less likely to get merits than honest, constructive, pleasant users... Its just human nature, and its something that can't be changed.

I think it's obvious because when you have one account, you are the one and only to have all your focus for that one account.

Once you start having fun then it's an unstoppable thing not to interact with responses left for you and being in different discussions. On the other hand, people also find their hobby on the forum and master it to stand out from others. I think to receive merit one needs to create good posts, and make themselves stand out of the crowd. It helps to receive more merits when an account is known to others.

[Eternad]

this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

I believe merit source that dislike the user usually ignores it therefore he will not able to see its post. Merit is human with feelings and it’s not a paid position which he can do whatever he wants on what his guidelines to send merit.

On most cases, I believe merit sources doesn’t read the post that they don’t like unless it was posted in reply to their thread or post. But I saw many times that merit sources still sending merits on post of user that they have arguments. It’s case to case basis but we can’t enforce this to every merit source since it’s a volunteer work without payment. As long as merit is being distribute properly on good quality post then their job is fulfilled regardless of their avoiding post on user that dislike since there’s a lot of merit source available out there to cover for it.

[UmerIdrees]

Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

A merit source should not give merits based on the people they like or don't like, they should hand out merits to the posts they like or they think are worth giving merits.

While feelings are always attached to us humans, but sometimes we need to perform our work by keeping our feelings aside.

You know humans, if they do not like someone, they will not do anything in favour of the person they dislike. And can theymos know, he can not know.

Again, here comes the self satisfaction of oneself. Even if theymos would not know, but your inner self will feel bad that you saw a post worth merited but you did not give merit to it only because you do not like that person.

[BabyBandit]

I'm a little bit more careful who I give merits to these days as I feel like I've been burned by too many users trying to rank up alt accounts. Sure, you're allowed to have alt accounts but it feels a bit dishonest when people try to pretend that they are not themselves. I've even seen accounts that I know are alts talking to themselves, lol.

It probably goes without saying but users who have less-than-forthright intentions, write bad posts, or are just a-holes are going to be less likely to get merits than honest, constructive, pleasant users... Its just human nature, and its something that can't be changed.

I understand, and I think you not doing anything wrong, opposite! Keep it up.  

Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

A merit source should not give merits based on the people they like or don't like, they should hand out merits to the posts they like or they think are worth giving merits.

While feelings are always attached to us humans, but sometimes we need to perform our work by keeping our feelings aside.

Yeah I agree 100% with this, spot on.

[Peanutswar]

Im not a merit source, but giving a merit is just giving a token of appreciation to the person with their contents because their answer really contributes to the community or just they want to give them giving merits can be subjective, we are still human if we know this person giving all of their best to share and contribute they will deserved merit. Also giving merit to them makes them more courage to get more and rank up like other members.

[goxcraft]

There are no rules about how a sMerit should be given. Everyone have a different perspective when it comes to sending sMerits. For some, they can give out sMerits out of feelings. For some, they give sMerit purely based on contribution. If I liked you, I would naturally try to give you sMerits whenever I see your posts, if I could. Don't you agree with that? Mutual bonds with each other affect a lot how one gives out sMerits. If one hates you, he won't give you sMerits even if the post deserves it.

Let me tell you a story. A few days ago, I found a roadmap of a bitcointalk user. He is now a legendary member of this community. Also, he is well known in this forum. He should be; he contributed a lot to this community. In his story, he said "On my 1000th post, a legendary member gave me a thousand merits". Isn't it amazing? How you you define that? Was it out of feelings or quality?! 1000 sMerit on 1000th post. Just imagine that.

[Renampun]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

As far as I can see on your account, you have only given 5 merits to 5 different accounts and I'm sure the posts for members you give 'merit' to are posts that you like, well merit sources also think so, when they like your posts then they won't hesitate to give merit to your post, they give it as support for your efforts in providing a good post (even though the post is made with few words, the point is that the post they give merit to is the one they like).

[BobLawblaw]

This hurts my feelings.

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

You know humans, if they do not like someone, they will not do anything in favour of the person they dislike. And can theymos know, he can not know. But we have 109 merit source with approximately 33940 smerits given by theymos almost every 30 days. If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

That's about an accurate answer to OP's question as you can get, and I would probably have written something similar if I weren't a merit source myself.  Lol.

I can only think of a small handful of members that I could say I genuinely don't care for, but they're at Legendary rank anyway, so even if they made a post that was helpful, funny, or just that I liked I probably would do what I try to do, which is to save the sMerits for lower-ranked members.  I often fail at that, but whatever.  I've got sMerits up the wazoo, so giving 2-3 to a Legendary member isn't going to throw the forum off balance.

However, I do check members' trust pages when they request a post history review and if there's any kind of feedback related to posting quality (usually a neutral), I do take that into account.  But that doesn't mean I'm refusing to merit them because of hard feelings.

This hurts my feelings.

I don't know why your feelings are hurt, but damn....I haven't seen you around in a long time.

[skarais]

I can only think of a small handful of members that I could say I genuinely don't care for, but they're at Legendary rank anyway, so even if they made a post that was helpful, funny, or just that I liked I probably would do what I try to do, which is to save the sMerits for lower-ranked members.  I often fail at that, but whatever.

The Sceptical Chymist, I often get that impression from non-merit source users where they tend to prefer helping fellow low-ranked accounts rather than sending merit to quality posts made by Legendary. I've obviously never had an issue with that, but the merit system is actually not only helpful to anyone who needs a ranking, but the merit system is supposed to help anyone who makes useful posts regardless of rank.

Do you know what the consequences are? Some of these users no longer submit merit to Legendary because they believe Legendary do not need merit to rank up. But I'm sure if this mindset continues to develop among low-ranked users, then many Legendary will fall out of the merit distribution. I know this isn't a problem yet but I got that kind of impression among our local users but of course not from all users.

I've got sMerits up the wazoo, so giving 2-3 to a Legendary member isn't going to throw the forum off balance.

Of course, I think that's fine and will never interfere with the merit system itself.

In my case, there were only a few Legendary who sent me merits in the last 120 days and they are all merit sources. Here's the list:

Code:

Husna QA
DdmrDdmr
ETFbitcoin
The Sceptical Chymist
dbshck
EFS
JayJuanGee

[jokers10]

I often get that impression from non-merit source users where they tend to prefer helping fellow low-ranked accounts rather than sending merit to quality posts made by Legendary.

It is a twofold situation, as I see it. On the one hand that's right, many are much more eager spend their merits on newbies and low ranks because it gives an opportunity to grow up in ranks. But on the other hand Legendaries are usually reputable enough already and when the one gives a merit to a legendary he doesn't reflect about if there is an AI post, plagiarism, alt account merit farming, etc. So merit to a Legendary is given very easily.

So it's easier to get merits for a newbie for one reasons and for a legendary for the other reasons. And it is hard the same way: for newbie for one and for legendary for another.

[AprilioMP]

Do you know what the consequences are? Some of these users no longer submit merit to Legendary because they believe Legendary do not need merit to rank up.

Legendary racked account no longer needs to get merit.
I have thought like that, skarais. When I saw the account rank system from Newbie to Legendary. At that time I thought that if the legendary rank account was the deadline for an account rank but after I continued the habit of finding out to increase knowledge, it turned out that my thoughts were not based on knowledge of the merit system, because there was no limit to giving merit including the legendary-ranking account during the legendary account have something useful.

But I'm sure if this mindset continues to develop among low-ranked users, then many Legendary will fall out of the merit distribution.

I don't think it will continue to develop such mindset as long as the low ranking account wants to learn the actual rules of the merit system.

[Majestic-milf]

 Question to the Op; supposing you were in a position to dole merits, would you do that based on the way you feel about the recipient or because the post was worth it? Whatever your answer is, it shows that you'd act based on your individual decision right? I feel that's the same way for the next person. Merits are intended for posts that add value to the forum or must have solved a problem but from the angle you are coming from it seems you are trying to say some merit sources give out their merits to people you feel are not deserving of it, say, like the legendary ranking members.

 

[bangjoe]

Know the OP that the source of Merit does not have a binding rules to him, every source of Merit has the right to what he will do to the merit he has to be distributed to other members, all sources of merit have their own criteria in sharing it and yes I understand that it is as a subjective nature.

Whether they use feelings or not, we will not know it, you will get that answer if the sources of merit answer here to you OP, but I think it's useless they will not waste time to inform you, one thing you can do to find out is; Look at how they share their merit and pay attention to their habits, it will conclude an answer to you Op.

[Ruttoshi]

It depends on the individual that is the merit source, because most times forum members are recognized based on how much they contribute facts about a topic and you if you are a quality poster, you will catch their attention.

We are human and most times emotion plays more on what we are doing, which is normal. So any merits source can skip your post, if he doesn't like you, but because your post is quality someone will merit it. Sometimes, it might not be that they hate that user, but maybe the merit source is out of merits.

There is a topic by Loyce V that you should report any quality post that lack merits, for a review so that the post will be merited and I believe that the thread is still active.

[robelneo]

Example: Two users are posting very good posts and both deserve merit, should the merit-source give both merit? In my opinion yes! But what if he dislike one and like the other one?
I mean that their actions should not be controlled by feelings, it should be controlled by fact and their opinions if the post is worthy or not, but not because they are friend or enemy with someone.

Merit is subjective and we have no control over the feelings of the merit sources, it is no use questioning them if one merit source doesn't like you, you can always get merits from other sources and members as long as you maintain the quality of your posts but it's better to have at peace with everybody here, you never know the one you have a quarrel with will be the next merit source.

Anyway, its not a big deal. I just thinking about it before I slept yesterday. Cheers buddie.

Cheers to you too it's a good topic and I'm sure you can think of more good topics

[Josefjix]

Question to the Op; supposing you were in a position to dole merits, would you do that based on the way you feel about the recipient or because the post was worth it? Whatever your answer is, it shows that you'd act based on your individual decision right? I feel that's the same way for the next person. Merits are intended for posts that add value to the forum or must have solved a problem but from the angle you are coming from it seems you are trying to say some merit sources give out their merits to people you feel are not deserving of it, say, like the legendary ranking members.

Not every good post solves or resolves problems; I've seen legitimate questions from newbies get merits as well, so we're all people, and at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference. What interests me may not interest you, which is why we have numerous merits sources in the first place. At least one of them must be in your category.

[Majestic-milf]

Question to the Op; supposing you were in a position to dole merits, would you do that based on the way you feel about the recipient or because the post was worth it? Whatever your answer is, it shows that you'd act based on your individual decision right? I feel that's the same way for the next person. Merits are intended for posts that add value to the forum or must have solved a problem but from the angle you are coming from it seems you are trying to say some merit sources give out their merits to people you feel are not deserving of it, say, like the legendary ranking members.

Not every good post solves or resolves problems; I've seen legitimate questions from newbies get merits as well, so we're all people, and at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference. What interests me may not interest you, which is why we have numerous merits sources in the first place. At least one of them must be in your category.

This just about sums up what I'm trying to pass across. Hey, it's your merit to give and if you feel a post is deserving to be merited, you do it out of your own volition and not because you were cajoled into doing it.

 I felt the op was more concerned that legendary ranking members got a kind of preferential treatment in terms of receiving merit than other ranks but what we are trying to say is giving merits is done out of personal interest, but then what do I know?

[Winterfrost]

I understand your point. I am sure that I have not see any merit source got driven by emotions even if that they are humans they understand their duty and know that they have to remove emotion when allocating merits to quality post. Its at some point difficult when they have to read some post that are expressed with feelings such as anxiety, losses, gains and vice versa. So they might get attached to the post and merit the post.

I've got sMerits up the wazoo, so giving 2-3 to a Legendary member isn't going to throw the forum off balance.

Of course, I think that's fine and will never interfere with the merit system itself.

In my case, there were only a few Legendary who sent me merits in the last 120 days and they are all merit sources. Here's the list:

Code:

Husna QA
DdmrDdmr
ETFbitcoin
The Sceptical Chymist
dbshck
EFS
JayJuanGee

The aforementioned merit sources are worth meriting. They distributing merit fairly to quality post without being sentimental. I wish the next generation of merit sources could learn from them and be more better.

[Erumo]

Feelings...

Merit source or any user should merit posts, not users. Imho users should not have prejudice towards other users. Dont like someone - hit ignore and dont bother "evaluation post if it is worth merit".

P.S. I feel depressed and sad today

[Dunamisx]

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

We are all humanbeing, if you can use your merit base on your personal feelings and conviction that a post is quality enough and deserves receiving your merit, then why should the merit sources be exceptional in this same situation, have you considered why they were being made merit source, because they can effectively distributes their merits to users across the forum and the criteria for them to do so is nothing but quality post, so if they have the feelings that your post deserves being merited then they aware such and of they don't think so, you remain unmerited.

But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe it is you  that shouldn't get it wrong where we are now, everyone posting cannot be merited for posting, that is why we have many of the merits sources, whenever they found a post deserving merit, they give it out, you're not  going to be the one to judge from the quality of the post you made that it's a quality post, merit source will identify that, get convinced, then merit those posts, know that begging or pleading to be merited is not right.

[Husna QA]

If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

I have debated with other users, and each other stuck to their respective arguments. But all that does not prevent me from giving Merit when I find his post, which I think is useful.

However, I'm sorry, I can't send Merit to all posts, especially in large numbers, although it may be that the posting is considered worthy of Merit for other users.

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

Try to propose as a Merit source to feel it yourself.

If you want to be a merit source:

 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.

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

Some of the requirements listed by the admin in the quote above can be an essential reference that illustrates how Merit sources can choose truly worthy posts (no. 2) and how Merit sources can act neutrally without prioritizing their egos, even towards users they don't like (no. 1).

[nakamura12]

Giving merits should not be all about feelings alone and there should be a criteria for giving merits. Once a merit source evaluate the post and he feels that this forum user deserves the merit. Forum members that are not merit sources do the same too where they have their own criteria before they reward merits and even me have my own criteria which I based my decisions in rewarding merits to other forum members.

[BabyBandit]

This hurts my feelings.

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone. / BabyBandit.

l

If this hurt your feelings, then you must have live under a rock all your life or are way to into this forum. 

[bitnote]

You know humans, if they do not like someone, they will not do anything in favour of the person they dislike. And can theymos know, he can not know. But we have 109 merit source with approximately 33940 smerits given by theymos almost every 30 days. If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

from where you got that data?

[bitnote]

 I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

From these stats, which are published by the forum.

By the way, regarding the core topic dealt with here, Merits Sources have no real explicit obligations, and have the liberty to sMerit whatever they wish to, subject to a certain degree of implicit ethics in the process. I’m pretty sure no one can be totally objective, and it’s only natural that subjectivity comes into play whether we like it or not, leading to some cases of positive bias or even negative bias. It’s human nature. That’s why what’s important is to have multiple people with a meriting capability, be them Merit Sources or else, introducing a factor of diversity in criteria.

[vapourminer]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

ive wound up meriting posts from users in my ignore list. as sometimes ill see an ignored users post quoted by someone else and if its interesting ill go unhide it and merit it.

so yes people i dislike and even ignore get merited on occasion. but i wont go out of my way to find them.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

Is a two way thing and one has to provide the merit (the post and not the person in question), one is the individual and the other is post. The person might have done something wrong to offend the merit source but that shouldn't stop the merit source from dropping one or two merits to a post that's informative just because he doesn't like the user.
To me when dropping merit emotions should be kept aside because is not the person you dislike you're giving the merit but the post, after giving the merit you can then go back to hate the user, so to me feeling shouldn't be mixed when giving merit.

[EFS]

I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

How do you know? You've just signed up last month and never send any merit.

Naturally, I can't send merit to the member I ignore, but as part of my duty here, I have ignored only a few extremely annoying people so far. If a message is of good quality, I send merit regardless of who wrote it. Just because I appreciate it doesn't mean that I agree with the content of that message. Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

[BabyBandit]

I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

How do you know? You've just signed up last month and never send any merit.

Naturally, I can't send merit to the member I ignore, but as part of my duty here, I have ignored only a few extremely annoying people so far. If a message is of good quality, I send merit regardless of who wrote it. Just because I appreciate it doesn't mean that I agree with the content of that message. Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

This is a very very good answer, and the way it should be in everything in life, many feelings-controlled people should read this. 100% on point.

Thank you for sharing it.

I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

 

[Sexylizzy2813]

Naturally, I can't send merit to the member I ignore, but as part of my duty here, I have ignored only a few extremely annoying people so far. If a message is of good quality, I send merit regardless of who wrote it. Just because I appreciate it doesn't mean that I agree with the content of that message. Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

I agree with you because the way some of us picture this whole  thing is like with the little issue you had with a user it makes you not to even do what you have to do at the right time, if you as a merit source and you use any form of grudges you have against any user it makes you unprofessional, here's a learning ground.
Using merit to like a quality post doesn't change how you feel about the user, you've done your part and move on, it will even show how mature you are because the user will be thinking you won't do what you have to do just because you guys have issues in the past, all these just boils down to maturity.

[EarnOnVictor]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

ive wound up meriting posts from users in my ignore list. as sometimes ill see an ignored users post quoted by someone else and if its interesting ill go unhide it and merit it.

so yes people i dislike and even ignore get merited on occasion. but i wont go out of my way to find them.

This shows you have a kind heart, but many others won't.

And as for the quote you replied to, no matter how good and constructive you are, if you are not in line with the views and ideas of most people, they will never merit you. This is very bad since merit sources are not perfect beings, the posts they refused to merit might be the one carrying the rightest information and value.

[mirakal]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

ive wound up meriting posts from users in my ignore list. as sometimes ill see an ignored users post quoted by someone else and if its interesting ill go unhide it and merit it.

so yes people i dislike and even ignore get merited on occasion. but i wont go out of my way to find them.

This shows you have a kind heart, but many others won't.

And as for the quote you replied to, no matter how good and constructive you are, if you are not in line with the views and ideas of most people, they will never merit you. This is very bad since merit sources are not perfect beings, the posts they refused to merit might be the one carrying the rightest information and value.

Probably that'st the reason why Theymos appointed a lot of merit sources.

But we have 109 merit source with approximately 33940 smerits given by theymos almost every 30 days.

Listen, if a couple of merit sources aren't feeling your post, there are still over 100 more out there. But, if most of them ain't vibing with your content, it might be time to reevaluate your forum game. You might want to take a breather, analyze your posts, and seek some advice on how to level up. This applies if you're hunting for merits.

However, if you're not quite at that merit-hunter level yet and you're not racking up merits, but also not getting your posts modded out, you're probably doing okay – at least in terms of not breaking the forum rules.

[DaNNy001]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

What is the problem? I disagree with some members in the forum, but they perform a good role in other boards or in local boards. If a person spams or does something that I do not like, I will be put him on my ignore list, but there are more than 100 Merit source members and I sent merits to many other members who can sent 1/2 of it to that account.
If that account is on everyone's ignore list, the problem is with you.

I think your approach is also one way to see how the whole merit system works, because the system is design for the merit to be circle round so If someone is in your list and you deem him as a spammer and is actually doing well in other places then just like you said " there are 100's of merits source" out there that you actually give out merit to and in these merit source, they may be a few that actually sees the user to be trying and actually give the said person some amount of merit worth the quality of his posts.

But I just have one problem with this ignore list though, I just have a simple thought about some users here that used to be shit posters but with time actually worked on their selves and then turn out to improve in their posting style and now sound posted, wouldn't it be unfair to have them still in your ignore list without acknowledging their recent improvement? Although this your logic of other merit sources still covers this thought but it doesn't hurt to throw out there question still.

[blckhawk]

I can say most of merit sources are objective, while most of non merit sources are subjective.

I wouldn't say that with an utmost certainty if I were you, the way I see your post, you treat merit sources as if they're robots that they can only follow a prime directive and that they can't stray too far. If most of them were really objective, they would probably merit less amounts of people so I think that emotion or feeling on the candidate post can be a factor whether it's merit worthy or not, I mean there are funny or sarcastic retorts posted out there and I believe that they're outside of the category of being an objective post so if they find it funny but still relevant to the topic aren't they allowed to merit that too? Plus, it's really difficult to measure if someone is subjective or objective, our perspective on what is the perfect post to merit is different and following a strict rule just to be subjective kind of sucks the fun out of being interactive in the forum you know.

[tbct_mt2]

But I just have one problem with this ignore list though, I just have a simple thought about some users here that used to be shit posters but with time actually worked on their selves and then turn out to improve in their posting style and now sound posted, wouldn't it be unfair to have them still in your ignore list without acknowledging their recent improvement? Although this your logic of other merit sources still covers this thought but it doesn't hurt to throw out there question still.

Use your ignore if you don't want to see posts from a shit poster but his posts will still be visually seen by you if another member quotes his posts. If after a long time, you see his posts in quotes are good in quality, you can use Unignore.

In general, merit distribution is emotional from merit sources and non merit sources but this discussion is boring because I see many topics like this one. It will not lead to anywhere if theymos does not deploy Demerit.

With Demerit, discussion like this one will die but another one will appear. "Why my earned merit was down vote and demerit?" and that type of discussion will be endless again.

There is currently no such thing as a "demerit". I'm hoping that the positive merits alone will be fine. I could add demerits pretty easily later on if necessary, though.

Just want to ask OP. Do you want to see Demerit?

[Jatiluhung]

They Merit Source have been trusted to share sMerit. And regardless of what method they do it is a right or freedom for them. Well they are human and have feelings. But I think they are wise enough and will definitely still give Merit to quality posts even if those quality posts are made by users who previously had a dispute with them.

But there are some Merit Sources that don't seem to want to deal with users who are avid spammers. They will end up on Merit Source's ignore list.
And yes they are free to do so.

I like the various characters in each Merit Source, especially the Merit Source who are diligent in adventuring to various boards. There are even several Merit Sources that seem to share Merit on various Boards on a regular basis. But one thing I have to admit is that the quality of Merit Source's posts is hard to follow. They consistently maintain the quality of their posts and I think that's great.

[Etranger]

Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

I see the point in your words, however I cannot totally agree that merit has no such meaning of approval. I would rather say that approval is not the only meaning of merit. But it can be one of it.

How exactly can we claim what is right or wrong merit usage? Merit is not universal, it is subjective. Of course, when the system was implemented there were some explanations about ways it might be used. But I believe it was more like a sketch than the finished painting, where everything is understood and clear. I suppose everyone can have his own reasons for giving merits to someone. Other way not everyone would have the opportunity to send sMerits, but only Merit courses would be able to do it.

[Mpamaegbu]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

I've had a few instances where some members disagreed with my posts but still went ahead to merit them. I've also seen that happen with other members too. There are merit sources who are dispassionate about how they distribute their merit. To these dispassionate merit sources, they would rather consider the content and context of comments rather than the posters. So, don't sweat about that. Even if those you think you've issues with don't merit your posts, there will be others who will merit them. Just make constructive posts and leave whatever happens next to providence.

[jokers10]

I've had a few instances where some members disagreed with my posts but still went ahead to merit them. I've also seen that happen with other members too. There are merit sources who are dispassionate about how they distribute their merit. To these dispassionate merit sources, they would rather consider the content and context of comments rather than the posters. So, don't sweat about that. Even if those you think you've issues with don't merit your posts, there will be others who will merit them. Just make constructive posts and leave whatever happens next to providence.

I'm not a merit source, but I also merit not only what I agree with. If I see some interesting line of thinking I can give a merit even if I see that it is based on a false grounds or is logically wrong. So I can make a post where I totally disagree with some post and despite that to merit a post which I disagree.

[PytagoraZ]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

I've had a few instances where some members disagreed with my posts but still went ahead to merit them. I've also seen that happen with other members too. There are merit sources who are dispassionate about how they distribute their merit. To these dispassionate merit sources, they would rather consider the content and context of comments rather than the posters. So, don't sweat about that. Even if those you think you've issues with don't merit your posts, there will be others who will merit them. Just make constructive posts and leave whatever happens next to providence.

Yes, that's right, every writing definitely has value, even if we don't agree with the writing, but if the writing has good thought value then we can reward it. I once gave merit to an account that had negative trust. In my opinion, the merit system in this forum has many functions, it can be a reward for the quality of posts, performance appreciation, assistance in ranking, friendship, or giving merit to posts that are sometimes very funny.

But sometimes I'm sad when I see good quality post but I don't have any merit to give

[EarnOnVictor]

I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

How do you know? You've just signed up last month and never send any merit.

Naturally, I can't send merit to the member I ignore, but as part of my duty here, I have ignored only a few extremely annoying people so far. If a message is of good quality, I send merit regardless of who wrote it. Just because I appreciate it doesn't mean that I agree with the content of that message. Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

This is a typical way a merit source or sender should think and I appreciate you for that. We can't agree at all times, but if the person is constructive enough, I don't think any neutral person should deny the merit if it could be afforded. But unfortunately, a few would think like you and it's obvious everywhere in the forum. Even some would realize a post is constructive enough and even learn from it, but will still not give merit simply because such is not in their preference book.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Yes, that's right, every writing definitely has value, even if we don't agree with the writing, but if the writing has good thought value then we can reward it. I once gave merit to an account that had negative trust. In my opinion, the merit system in this forum has many functions, it can be a reward for the quality of posts, performance appreciation, assistance in ranking, friendship, or giving merit to posts that are sometimes very funny.

But sometimes I'm sad when I see good quality post but I don't have any merit to give

Some comments or topics have value, but not really all of them. Although I am not disputing the fact that there are usually some quality comments that do not receive merit, there are equally some low-value topics that I myself would not merit, despite the fact that I am not a merit source. There are so many off-topic comments, just as there are also many shitposts. Saying that all post has value is something I can't absolutely agree with.

There are times when I make just a simple general comment, and I might not really expect any merit on that particular comment, but it can just end up getting merit. But sometimes I put effort into some comments and don't get any merit on the post. So, in essence, merit sources and non-merit sources have their own different patterns of awarding merit. They can decide to just give 1 merit each to the first 10 people that comment on the first page, or they can decide to give more than 1 merit to the person they feel made the best comment, and then they can just give one each to others to encourage them. So, it's just different with how any member here gives out merit.

[Ndabagi01]

I'm not a merit source, but I also merit not only what I agree with. If I see some interesting line of thinking I can give a merit even if I see that it is based on a false grounds or is logically wrong. So I can make a post where I totally disagree with some post and despite that to merit a post which I disagree.

This is just about the mindset of the person sending the merits. If it happens to be on a false ground, I have seen some users merit the poster and then cite and correct the person. This feels more like encouraging the work put into sharing your point of view on a topic, as well as correcting someone on a false or incorrect statement they've made.

[BabyBandit]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?

ive wound up meriting posts from users in my ignore list. as sometimes ill see an ignored users post quoted by someone else and if its interesting ill go unhide it and merit it.

so yes people i dislike and even ignore get merited on occasion. but i wont go out of my way to find them.

This shows you have a kind heart, but many others won't.

And as for the quote you replied to, no matter how good and constructive you are, if you are not in line with the views and ideas of most people, they will never merit you. This is very bad since merit sources are not perfect beings, the posts they refused to merit might be the one carrying the rightest information and value.

Good point and on point.
Many people here are 100% controlled by their feelings, regarding merit or not merit, just look the drama-b reputation-board  
But regarding the Merit-Sources, I think they doing a great job. it's many hours to kill to be able to giving away merit, so respect to them for doing it, and to be honest during my short time here I haven't seen anyone abuse his "merit-power". So this works pretty good.

- Regards BabyB. 👼

[348Judah]

I'm not a merit source, but I also merit not only what I agree with. If I see some interesting line of thinking I can give a merit even if I see that it is based on a false grounds or is logically wrong. So I can make a post where I totally disagree with some post and despite that to merit a post which I disagree.

This is just about the mindset of the person sending the merits. If it happens to be on a false ground, I have seen some users merit the poster and then cite and correct the person. This feels more like encouraging the work put into sharing your point of view on a topic, as well as correcting someone on a false or incorrect statement they've made.

Maybe there's a need to remind us all that giving a merit should be base on our personal conviction that such post is deserving for one, we can choose to give or not, we are giving only because we all have also earned some smerits, what if we see a post that deserves being merited and we have no merit to give, our own reply as well goes along with what we see from a post, if you can make this judgement from your own self.

It's your personal right to do so while another person may not see the same thing you noticed, just as the same way you will also discover a post being merited which you never expected, but anyone that knows how hard it is to earn merits will know how to judiciously use his smerits without anyone telling him what or how to do it.

[Dimitri94]

what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

I think just like a general user can give merit to whoever they want based on their post quality, a merit source can do the same. But the difference here is that a merit source is definitely one of the knowledgeable people in the forum. They use their merit as opposed to posts that are generally liked. Here they are completely independent. Moreover, naturally, each of us may have our own preferences. One's post quality may not be good for one merit source but it may not be the same for another. So it will depend on that person if he wants to give merit to someone and if he doesn't he can't. I think there is nothing to say about it.

[SamReomo]

I do not believe that. When I learn something new from someone, my instinct is to do something good for them, If I have merits I will give them if they helped me.
this is a forum we can be disappointed by someone but cannot become an enemy of them.

How do you know? You've just signed up last month and never send any merit.

Naturally, I can't send merit to the member I ignore, but as part of my duty here, I have ignored only a few extremely annoying people so far. If a message is of good quality, I send merit regardless of who wrote it. Just because I appreciate it doesn't mean that I agree with the content of that message. Merit has no such meaning of approval. Some people use it as like button but this isn't the right way to use merit.

Well, that's a quite good answer because a merit source should merit the posts that deserve to get merits and he/she should not care about the members who made those posts. Sometimes it's always good to merit the posts of the members who are contributing a lot to the forum because that way they get encouraged and they try their best to contribute even more good stuff to the forum.

A merit source should try his/her best to add only a few annoying members in his/her ignore list because merit distribution starts from the merit sources and if they continue to add as many people in their ignore list as they like then that would not be a good thing for the ones who may deserve to get some merits.

I personally don't add anyone into my ignore list because I believe that if we can avoid someone then we don't really need to add that person into the ignore list, however some people really don't want to see the posts of some particular users and that's the reason they add those users into their ignore list. It's a good practice to send merit to the posts that deserve the merits even if you don't agree with the content because if those posts deserve to get merits then it's good to send those some merits.

[Franctoshi]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Merit source members giving out its merits shouldn't be an emotional thing.

Even though the merit source members are humans and may have members whom they like,  don't you think that the user is a quality poster in the first place? that got the attention of a merit source member to like the member? Because when it comes to this platform, the majority of us didn't know each other in the first place before we came here, therefore what could have gotten the attention of the merit source members to merit a member must have been how good the user is or most likely how quality the member's post is.


Take you for instance, when I joined this forum I only knew the person who introduced me to the platform, but today I have a lot of people who have merited me and people I have also merited and they don't know me and neither do I know them to talk of meriting my account based on feelings,  so Op, this tells that those users that you see get merit from the merit source members Is basically because they are quality poster.

[BabyBandit]

Well, that's a quite good answer because a merit source should merit the posts that deserve to get merits and he/she should not care about the members who made those posts. Sometimes it's always good to merit the posts of the members who are contributing a lot to the forum because that way they get encouraged and they try their best to contribute even more good stuff to the forum.

A merit source should try his/her best to add only a few annoying members in his/her ignore list because merit distribution starts from the merit sources and if they continue to add as many people in their ignore list as they like then that would not be a good thing for the ones who may deserve to get some merits.

I personally don't add anyone into my ignore list because I believe that if we can avoid someone then we don't really need to add that person into the ignore list, however some people really don't want to see the posts of some particular users and that's the reason they add those users into their ignore list. It's a good practice to send merit to the posts that deserve the merits even if you don't agree with the content because if those posts deserve to get merits then it's good to send those some merits.

Good thinking and good said.
You seems to have thick skin, more should think like you.

Merit source members giving out its merits shouldn't be an emotional thing.

Even though the merit source members are humans and may have members whom they like,  don't you think that the user is a quality poster in the first place? that got the attention of a merit source member to like the member? Because when it comes to this platform, the majority of us didn't know each other in the first place before we came here, therefore what could have gotten the attention of the merit source members to merit a member must have been how good the user is or most likely how quality the member's post is.  

Yep it should not.
I don't know really. I saw a very good post about this... But I think all Merit-Sources do a good job here, the most of the people that get merit also should have merit so I don't have anything to complain about.
I can only say thank you to the merit-sources that giving away their free time for this forum, because to be a merit-source I can imagine you need to spend hours of reading post, something I never would do.
So thank you merit-sources! 

I think just like a general user can give merit to whoever they want based on their post quality

I totally agree with you here, they should and can and give sMerits to whoever they fell deserve it and I think they all doing a great job.

[_BlackStar]

-snip-

I totally agree with you here, they should and can and give sMerits to whoever they fell deserve it and I think they all doing a great job.

Since you have drawn the correct conclusion - then you should immediately lock this thread rather than leaving it open any longer.

Merit source are a voluntary task – but they have full rights to the source they have and are not prohibited from giving them to whom and in what rank. The main thing expected from a merit system is an increase in the quality of posts - so it is advisable to distribute them to quality posts regardless of who created them.

[BabyBandit]

Since you have drawn the correct conclusion - then you should immediately lock this thread rather than leaving it open any longer.

Absolutely not.

[Woodie]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

The brutal truth is if they don't like you, then chances are slim of receiving any from such sources

Besides the only way around this is to try to make yourself visible to be noticed by the merit sources, but it gets ugly if he/she puts you on their ignore list meaning whatever meritable content you put out there won't be seen and you can not complain of any foul play as merit-sources have the discretion to send merit(s) to whoever they think is deserving!!

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

Naturally, this service to the forum should be done without feelings but being humans we are prone to mixed emotions !!!

Btw You make this sound like a job of which they need to go through all threads to find all these good posts, which is unrealistic as everyone has a life away from the forum.

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way.

Nothing tastes better than the fruit of your hard work, good luck BabyBandit.

[Pmalek]

Actually, it's not a bad question. And everyone approaches it differently. I doubt there will be that many people who merit those they don't like or are in a conflict with. If you compare it with a real-life scenario, you wouldn't be spending time with or going out with those you don't like.

Being completely objective is a plus, but hard to achieve. I wouldn't say that there is a spotlight on merit sources, but their merit distribution is easier to spot since there is much more of it. It's possible that a person might ask themselves, should I really merit this user? They are such a controversial and negative figure. Or, what will other people think if they see me merit this person?

There aren't many rules about merit distribution for merit sources, so everyone has their own modus operandi. If I don't know the person I want to give merits to for their post, I check if they participate in the merit game. That means, I want to see that they award other users with merits if they receive some. If their distribution is 0 when they have merits to give, I won't merit them.   

[BabyBandit]

Nothing tastes better than the fruit of your hard work, good luck BabyBandit.

Thank you  & Congratulations to 800 merit.

Actually, it's not a bad question. And everyone approaches it differently. I doubt there will be that many people who merit those they don't like or are in a conflict with. If you compare it with a real-life scenario, you wouldn't be spending time with or going out with those you don't like.

Being completely objective is a plus, but hard to achieve. I wouldn't say that there is a spotlight on merit sources, but their merit distribution is easier to spot since there is much more of it. It's possible that a person might ask themselves, should I really merit this user? They are such a controversial and negative figure. Or, what will other people think if they see me merit this person?

There aren't many rules about merit distribution for merit sources, so everyone has their own modus operandi. If I don't know the person I want to give merits to for their post, I check if they participate in the merit game. That means, I want to see that they award other users with merits if they receive some. If their distribution is 0 when they have merits to give, I won't merit them.    

Good way to handle a situation if you wanna give out Merit, something I also will take after.
It's a interesting question indeed and yes people are taking it their own way.  
Example for me: when I go into a thread for the first time I always go in without feelings and read what is presented and act after that, not after who presented it.
But I guess it's no wrong or right just different ways to approach something that in the end is totally irrelevant.

[EarnOnVictor]

-snip-

I totally agree with you here, they should and can and give sMerits to whoever they fell deserve it and I think they all doing a great job.

Since you have drawn the correct conclusion - then you should immediately lock this thread rather than leaving it open any longer.

Merit source are a voluntary task – but they have full rights to the source they have and are not prohibited from giving them to whom and in what rank. The main thing expected from a merit system is an increase in the quality of posts - so it is advisable to distribute them to quality posts regardless of who created them.

I like the concluding part but I strongly disagree that this thread should be locked, it's a very good thread to remind those who are in the habit of distributing merits with sentiments. This is not applicable to merit sources alone but to all and I noticed those who are favoured with merits don't often like discussion. You might not be doing what the OP says but many do it and there is no speech you can ever give to exonerate them. Some people take things personally and once you are in the opposite of their view (even if they are wrong), then you are out of their favour, while some just have their preferences.

This thread should continue to be a gentle reminder for those of them who still have a conscience that "to whom much is given much is required," and that much is beyond personal sentiment or I do as I like.

[Etranger]

If I don't know the person I want to give merits to for their post, I check if they participate in the merit game. That means, I want to see that they award other users with merits if they receive some. If their distribution is 0 when they have merits to give, I won't merit them.   

That is exactly what I keep repeating about subjective nature of the merit system and existence of really different criteria which users use when they decide to send merits to somebody. I totally get your position on this matter, because merit circulation is important to keep the system alive and effective. However, this way you may leave unmerited some quality posts only for a reason that this member won't send any merits to another person. And this is not exactly what the merit system is pursuing. Its main focus still lies on valuing good, quality posts, no matter what the rewarded user choose to do with sMerits he gains.

[SmartGold01]

There aren't many rules about merit distribution for merit sources, so everyone has their own modus operandi. If I don't know the person I want to give merits to for their post, I check if they participate in the merit game. That means, I want to see that they award other users with merits if they receive some. If their distribution is 0 when they have merits to give, I won't merit them.   

You absolutely correct on your opinion here, there are some users especially low rank profiles some of them don't like distribution but they are always wanting people to send to them without involved in distribution sides, again we can't truly judge how we distributes our merits but with the real life scenario you gave made me to understand we do have fans..
.. that is, those whom we felt that are mostly correct or that also loves sharing merits to them as well, we can feel the same but whenever there's a beef and a kind of misunderstanding I don't think anyone would spare their merits to user who isn't their fans or friends. Although there are people who finds it difficult to merit some users naturally because they felt such people has enough without knowing that merits are being distribution according to how helpful/meaningful and creatives a post is,  Yes we can't questioned anybody how they chose to distribute their merits and even if they don't it doesn't add any meaning and values to their life's because it will not change anything.

[Pmalek]

I totally get your position on this matter, because merit circulation is important to keep the system alive and effective. However, this way you may leave unmerited some quality posts only for a reason that this member won't send any merits to another person. And this is not exactly what the merit system is pursuing. Its main focus still lies on valuing good, quality posts, no matter what the rewarded user choose to do with sMerits he gains.

You are not wrong, and I have been told the same thing before. But that's my way of doing it and I am not going to change it. I believe that merits aren't supposed to be hoarded. Imagine if 8/10 people who receive merits refused to reward others with merits? It wouldn't make sense. The entire merit system would, in that case, rely exclusively on merit sources. But if regular users share merits as well (which the majority does), it's a much healthier-looking system with more opportunities for people to be on the receiving end.   

[Etranger]

You are not wrong, and I have been told the same thing before. But that's my way of doing it and I am not going to change it. I believe that merits aren't supposed to be hoarded. Imagine if 8/10 people who receive merits refused to reward others with merits? It wouldn't make sense. The entire merit system would, in that case, rely exclusively on merit sources. But if regular users share merits as well (which the majority does), it's a much healthier-looking system with more opportunities for people to be on the receiving end.   

Sure, I totally understand this, and frankly, I feel this way as well, because only in this case the system would work as I think it was designed by admins. I don't see any reason in keeping sMerits, because it doesn't give you anything, but it slows down the whole merit distribution instead. You have the right to do as you think would be better and correct, because it's yours sMerits to give away and you are in charge and get to decide. I believe, this is another prove that Merit Sources and just regular givers use their feelings, their own interpretations and I don't see anything wrong with it, because it is impossible to make this system objective, although it is possible to make criteria people use while rewarding some posts more clear and transparent and you did so, which could be very helpful to others when they hesitate to give their sMerits to others.

[KaosanRoad]

Humans mostly doing things based on their feelings. 

[Shamm]

Every merit source have thier own way if giving thier sMerits as we all know that they will have thier taste and if they were like your post cause it will contains a lot of positive and helpful topics then merit source will came across your profile and once you are qualified then you will be given by them.  And also there are some merits source having a task in order to give his sMerits for those users who are the best contributot her in our community.

[The Cryptovator]

Before becoming a merit source, we were a general forum member. So for me, I always act like I did before. Merit source doesn't mean something extra ordinary. I merit a post where I like it and find it worthy. Sometimes I send a large number of merits even if the post is not worth it because of rank. When someone is struggling to rank up and needs some merit, I help them. We have emotion as well, but we don't necessarily need to show it through merit. I merited my enemy posts as well, when I found them worthy. So for each merit source, thoughts would be different.

[BabyBandit]

Before becoming a merit source, we were a general forum member. So for me, I always act like I did before. Merit source doesn't mean something extra ordinary. I merit a post where I like it and find it worthy. Sometimes I send a large number of merits even if the post is not worth it because of rank. When someone is struggling to rank up and needs some merit, I help them. We have emotion as well, but we don't necessarily need to show it through merit. I merited my enemy posts as well, when I found them worthy. So for each merit source, thoughts would be different.

Hey! Thanks for taking your time and reply in this thread, I appreciate it and thank you for sharing your way how you see it as a merit source. Keep up the good work mate! 💪

[Richbased]

You know humans, if they do not like someone, they will not do anything in favour of the person they dislike. And can theymos know, he can not know. But we have 109 merit source with approximately 33940 smerits given by theymos almost every 30 days. If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

Sure I believe that before merit source is given to someone, they must have been scrutinize if they ain't gonna be biased in distributing merits accordingly and merits are mostly awarded to good and quality posters as their is never a way all the merit sources can skip a quality posts that deserves to be merited. And I also believe that merit sources are also checked from time to time to know if they're fair in giving out merits to quality posters.

[FinePoine0]

Humans mostly doing things based on their feelings. 

Anyone giving wrong information in this forum will be punished. Helping each other with proper information and right decision is the key to success. To live here is to live by yourself, because you can never meet others with proof. The subject of intellectual circulation must be carefully guarded and kept alive. Send qualification only in standard post or no qualification in any other normal post. And no qualifications can be sent in any way (personal message) with anyone. Therefore, you will receive merit gift of all the posts in the same way that you will send your accumulated Smerit to others only on quality posts.

[Etranger]

And I also believe that merit sources are also checked from time to time to know if they're fair in giving out merits to quality posters.

If they are, than the criteria for such checking is very wide, because behaviour of merit sources differ a lot. Some of them don't usually give more that 10 merits for good, quality posts, others could give more that 40 for a short, but capacious reply. That is why we can not follow some common logic behind those actions, because everyone has a special treatment for users here.

[348Judah]

And I also believe that merit sources are also checked from time to time to know if they're fair in giving out merits to quality posters.

If they are, than the criteria for such checking is very wide, because behaviour of merit sources differ a lot. Some of them don't usually give more that 10 merits for good, quality posts, others could give more that 40 for a short, but capacious reply. That is why we can not follow some common logic behind those actions, because everyone has a special treatment for users here.

I don't think if there's any check on the way merits sources disburse their merits, however, member can discuss any kind of suspicious type on the reputation board if found, but I want you to also know that merits sources were chosen base on their level of reputation and contributions they have achieved or earned from the forum, with how the admin is more convinced about their discharge in meriting other people, the scrutiny would have been done properly before they were made a merit source as well.

[Zoomic]

I can say most of merit sources are objective, while most of non merit sources are subjective.

Example:
1. A merit source with 5K merits give someone merit, then this user will merit back the merit source in the next post or other post because he want to make the merit source notice to him or giving more merit.

2. Someone only meriting or give more merit to their gangs or friends, but the other users who create a same or higher quality from their gangs or friends will not receive higher merits.

Since giving merit like that will not result in ban or negative feedback, we can only accept this culture.

You made so many statements that are true and that is the reality. Many people will deny this obvious reality but we would not die in denial. Some people keep cycling merits and to the extent that what determines your growth as a low rank member is two things;

• You must be exceptionally intelligent and have a good knowledge of bitcoin, this is the best way to grow yourself. Unfortunately, it's never easy to be among this category. We only have them 1 in every hundred
• Another way is to have a good relationship with some merit sources. If no merit source loves you, your method of posting or knows your username, your growth will be largely limited.

However, I love your conclusion, that we can only accept the culture. Although there is no perfect system anywhere.

[Etranger]

And I also believe that merit sources are also checked from time to time to know if they're fair in giving out merits to quality posters.

If they are, than the criteria for such checking is very wide, because behaviour of merit sources differ a lot. Some of them don't usually give more that 10 merits for good, quality posts, others could give more that 40 for a short, but capacious reply. That is why we can not follow some common logic behind those actions, because everyone has a special treatment for users here.

I don't think if there's any check on the way merits sources disburse their merits, however, member can discuss any kind of suspicious type on the reputation board if found, but I want you to also know that merits sources were chosen base on their level of reputation and contributions they have achieved or earned from the forum, with how the admin is more convinced about their discharge in meriting other people, the scrutiny would have been done properly before they were made a merit source as well.

I didn't question the integrity of merit courses in any way, I am fully aware about them being the most reliable and honoured members of the forum. I simply made an accent that all of them have criteria which are different from one another. And I believe this is a good thing, because such diversity is able to cover a larger field of posts that are considered high-quality and interesting. This way, features which can be merited are being replenished. These are not the same principles that absolutely everyone must follow in order to receive merit and rise in rank. Good posts are a broad concept that can be interpreted differently by everyone, increasing an individual member's chances of being noticed and rewarded.

[BabyBandit]

Although there is no perfect system anywhere.

This is so true, and its up to the Citizens (in this case users) to try to make it as good as possible. And how can we achieve that? Honestly and fairness and not abuse it.
Thank to you all DT users that actually follow this path. You are the real heroes on this website.

[wallet4bitcoin]

-----Emotions-----Opinions-----Fact------

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone.

UPDATE 18th November: I now been on the forum a bit longer then the time I created this topic and I truly believe being a Merit-Source is not as easy or fun as it may look like.
So I want to take the time to say Thank you to all Merit-Sources for giving us your spare-time. 🙏

Just stumbled on this thread just now and I'm seeing loads of contributions. However, I want to make just a simple point.

In the process of commenting on threads, you are consciously or unconsciously leaving footprints that are silent but very loud as they are read and comprehended and it remains a direct representation of your mentality, understanding and also your standpoint on whatever your topic is or contribution you're making.

Tailoring it down to your OP, you made mention of whether merit should be sent based on quality of post or based on feelings; Notice that most posts you see that gets merits are more contributive from a solution perspective than it is appealing to one's emotions, often times merit sources will always allocate merit based on information they can connect with.

Lets say you make a contribution that happens to be a challenge in the real life, in this forum or in the tech space that is relatable, it appeals to whoever that is reading it to award merit based on the depth of information you pass across as pertaining to that particular concern.

Its a way of encouraging you to also make contributive post to the forum and educating people, its part of these informations that has made this forum a global community.

~wallet4bitcoin~

[Etranger]

Lets say you make a contribution that happens to be a challenge in the real life, in this forum or in the tech space that is relatable, it appeals to whoever that is reading it to award merit based on the depth of information you pass across as pertaining to that particular concern.

Such posts get a lot of merits as fas as I can see, but you have to be interested in this particular issue, which was discussed and solutions for which were offered to really appreciate it and merit it by yourself. If such a contribution is out of your concern, you would likely skip such post, even if you think it was a good and constructive one. Because it is just not relevant for you personally.

[DYING_S0UL]

I think both. I am not a merit source myself but with the limited sMerits I have, whenever I get the chance, I consider both. Normally in global section, I try to merit only quality posts. And whenever I see posts from my local board or whenever I see somebody I know post, if I like it I try to merit it. And of course, it has to fulfill the minimal quality to be merited. Because if I don't follow the basic rules someone might call me a abuser. I also observe if a person got merited by other reputed members. I also take their action into my accounts.

[Sexylizzy2813]

I think both. I am not a merit source myself but with the limited sMerits I have, whenever I get the chance, I consider both. Normally in global section, I try to merit only quality posts. And whenever I see posts from my local board or whenever I see somebody I know post, if I like it I try to merit it. And of course, it has to fulfill the minimal quality to be merited. Because if I don't follow the basic rules someone might call me a abuser. I also observe if a person got merited by other reputed members. I also take their action into my accounts.

That means you saying you can merit someone's post base on feelings?
If you do that I believe you won't really mind if the post doesn't deserve to be merited, to me we should try not to use feelings. If we use feelings then all newbies should have merits on their first post because we have to use pity to give them one not quality.
In our respective local board we know who deserves to be merited because we all understand each other there and an outsider can't understand what is being discussed. So if we're giving merit the user need to show why he or she deserves to be merited.

[EarnOnVictor]

Although there is no perfect system anywhere.

This is so true, and its up to the Citizens (in this case users) to try to make it as good as possible. And how can we achieve that? Honestly and fairness and not abuse it.
Thank to you all DT users that actually follow this path. You are the real heroes on this website.

I join the voice with yours that those who are fair in distributing the merits without sentiments and favouritism are the true heroes of the forum. Because merits itself is an encouraging part of this forum, and I almost gave up when I started newly if not for some good users here who saw the beauty in my posts.

Merits here are just like endorsing that you are making sense with your posting, but if someone posted for months and couldn't get any despite posting quality could result in discouragement as though his work is not being appreciated.

I will continue to encourage those who have this power to use it well, after all, it's a forum, decisions in it shouldn't be made with sentiments.

[Etranger]

If we use feelings then all newbies should have merits on their first post because we have to use pity to give them one not quality.
In our respective local board we know who deserves to be merited because we all understand each other there and an outsider can't understand what is being discussed. So if we're giving merit the user need to show why he or she deserves to be merited.

I can not agree with your statement. First of all, our feelings are not limited only to pity. For example, I feel pity for other members quite rarely, but what I feel regularly is respect, or desire to support, or feel some kind of a connection with what being written. All of these are different feelings and I don't see anything wrong for them being taken into account while meriting someone. Because we cannot value posts only by rational means.

Secondly, as far as I understood, you claimed that the user has to show, prove why he deserves to be merited. I believe, he doesn't. You see, if it was like you said, than users would write only with this goal - to receive merits. But that is absolutely not the purpose of the forum. Moreover, such motivation often kills the uniqueness and originality of many users, because they try to meet some standards in order to be merited.

[Sexylizzy2813]

If we use feelings then all newbies should have merits on their first post because we have to use pity to give them one not quality.
In our respective local board we know who deserves to be merited because we all understand each other there and an outsider can't understand what is being discussed. So if we're giving merit the user need to show why he or she deserves to be merited.

I can not agree with your statement. First of all, our feelings are not limited only to pity. For example, I feel pity for other members quite rarely, but what I feel regularly is respect, or desire to support, or feel some kind of a connection with what being written. All of these are different feelings and I don't see anything wrong for them being taken into account while meriting someone. Because we cannot value posts only by rational means.

Some people do merit because the other users doesn't have the merit he or she suppose to have, and he'd be like "this post deserve a merit and nobody is doing let me do it" my point is a post deserve merit but no one is giving it especially newbies surfer from that, and you can just say this is a nice post lemme drop some merit instead, it happens.

Secondly, as far as I understood, you claimed that the user has to show, prove why he deserves to be merited. I believe, he doesn't. You see, if it was like you said, than users would write only with this goal - to receive merits. But that is absolutely not the purpose of the forum. Moreover, such motivation often kills the uniqueness and originality of many users, because they try to meet some standards in order to be merited.

Not that the user have to show why he or she deserves to be merited, the post have to speak for the user not the other way around. The information we give can be useful here in the forum and someone can decide to drop one or two merit not that merit is the main purpose of coming here in the Forum, some people do have that as their number one priority so I don't encourage that.
Those with that thinking don't get things right and they easily default the rules of the Forum without them even knowing.

[Etranger]

Some people do merit because the other users doesn't have the merit he or she suppose to have, and he'd be like "this post deserve a merit and nobody is doing let me do it" my point is a post deserve merit but no one is giving it especially newbies surfer from that, and you can just say this is a nice post lemme drop some merit instead, it happens.

I doubt very much that there is such thing as "merits someone is supposed to have". I observe different cases, from those where users have very few merits compared to the activity number and also vice versa. Every person is posting in his own way, rhythm, speed and quality, that is why the merit number differs from case to case.

I believe, newbies often talk more about suffering from the rules here that they actually do this. At some point getting merits being a newbie is much easier than being a member or a full member, for example. Because it is common to think that newbies are left behind and nobody pays attention to their posts. But that is not true in most cases, I think.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Some people do merit because the other users doesn't have the merit he or she suppose to have, and he'd be like "this post deserve a merit and nobody is doing let me do it" my point is a post deserve merit but no one is giving it especially newbies surfer from that, and you can just say this is a nice post lemme drop some merit instead, it happens.

I doubt very much that there is such thing as "merits someone is supposed to have". I observe different cases, from those where users have very few merits compared to the activity number and also vice versa. Every person is posting in his own way, rhythm, speed and quality, that is why the merit number differs from case to case.

What I meant was that a user might not have any merit on his post and you can decide to give more than 1 merit on that post instead of letting it be without merit, like you can decide to give like 5-6 merit.
Like they say slow and steady wins the race and I agree with you that the way and manner users go about business in this Forum is really different, the quality the speed and all that, and the merit number doesn't come the way we expect.

I believe, newbies often talk more about suffering from the rules here that they actually do this. At some point getting merits being a newbie is much easier than being a member or a full member, for example. Because it is common to think that newbies are left behind and nobody pays attention to their posts. But that is not true in most cases, I think.

I don't think is that easy to have merit as a newbie, haven't you noticed how threads that are related are being started just to hustle up some merit? Is really frustrating as a newbie when you lack merit, that first merit is like a life saver that comes with plenty of joy, the other ranks are like old members that have seen it all so they have 85% chance of getting merit than the newbies.
I don't know but I feel newbies have to work harder to earn their merit, not saying that is bad to put more effort but is really difficult being a newbie, they have to create thread just to gain that recognition, attention and if they don't is like they don't exist on the Forum.

[BabyBandit]

I don't think is that easy to have merit as a newbie, haven't you noticed how threads that are related are being started just to hustle up some merit? Is really frustrating as a newbie when you lack merit, that first merit is like a life saver that comes with plenty of joy, the other ranks are like old members that have seen it all so they have 85% chance of getting merit than the newbies.
I don't know but I feel newbies have to work harder to earn their merit, not saying that is bad to put more effort but is really difficult being a newbie, they have to create thread just to gain that recognition, attention and if they don't is like they don't exist on the Forum.

What you saying here is on point hundred percent  I M O.

You have right it's easier when you getting friends that support you and vice versa. But lucky Merit is just a imagination without any real value in real life so it's not that important.
I saw one post got 60+ Merit because a user posted that he bought his first Bitcoin and shared a slip of it and i was a little bit shocked but hey no wrong in that but it made me wonder and laugh at the same time and I learned to just take this with joy. But what you saying here is on point hundred percent on point bro.

[Tmoonz]

Merits source merits distribution  should be strictly based on given honor to who honor is due, merits are meant to distributed to posts that has value, creative and informative, emotions should not be attached to it reason being that it is the post that deserves the merits and  not the user itself. So there is no point being selfish about this than just to appropriately utilize that privilege given to them fairly without sentiments.

The meriting system is one of the things that leaves every user excited when post are being merited and it gives more confident that they are learning and contributing meaningfully making them to become a more active than being less active members in the forum.

[charrles]

The problem you mentioned OP was really a problem if there were just few merit sources. With over 100 merit sources, you can be sure that at least some of them will like your posts if they are really helpful. And, do not forget that not only the merit sources, even normal members here get merits to spend based on the merits they receive. So your focus should be on making useful posts here instead of complaining about things that you cannot control. Good luck.

[criptoevangelista]

Each source of merit has gone through a selection and in my opinion they are qualified to consider a message good or bad, each one has their own way of “working” and distributing their merits.

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

[hd49728]

Each source of merit has gone through a selection and in my opinion they are qualified to consider a message good or bad, each one has their own way of “working” and distributing their merits.

They were assigned as a merit source, applied as a merit source but they are free to retire as a merit source.

Some merit sources were disqualified by theymos and theymos even rollbacked some wrong merit transactions.

A merit source after appointed does not mean it will take that role forever.

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

Merit comes naturally to good posts. Not all your good posts will receive merit but if you consistently make good posts, you will receive merit.

[Woodie]

Before anything, these are human beings you are dealing with & emotions are very much part of the biology!
So understanding the point raised means , if you choose a path that  will put you in bad books with merit sources and not get you these golden nuggets you have yourself to blame, and let's not forget this isn't an easy undertaking especially that this isn't a paid job for them to spend time going through threads looking for posts that qualify to be merited... otherwise naturally merit should be based on the quality of the most just like they do when making applications when trying to become merit sources.

[Elissa~sH]

From what I've merit and understood on the forums with my tiny brain, qualifying is a display of good quality merit. If we can benefit someone by expressing our good quality merit or if someone is benefited and through any of my posts he can know or understand and learn something new, then we are considered the most qualified accordingly. Competence is never something to be rushed. Come slowly to get the qualification and you will get the qualification.

[EarnOnVictor]

From what I've merit and understood on the forums with my tiny brain, qualifying is a display of good quality merit. If we can benefit someone by expressing our good quality merit or if someone is benefited and through any of my posts he can know or understand and learn something new, then we are considered the most qualified accordingly. Competence is never something to be rushed. Come slowly to get the qualification and you will get the qualification.

You have a point there. Though the merit system is not perfect and enough sentiments are going on in sharing it, quality posters will still get it no matter how little. It might be slow in some cases as better posters may even get less merits than lesser quality posters, regardless, one thing I've noticed is that sooner or later, such quality posters will still climb.

Thanks to the effective random merit givers and more thanks to those merit sources that have put it upon themselves to painstakingly ask for the review of posts. A lot of undetected good posters are able to benefit from this, including me. With that arrangement, one can know that there can't be sentiments as quality posts can't just be hidden when a direct review is involved.

[criptoevangelista]

Each source of merit has gone through a selection and in my opinion they are qualified to consider a message good or bad, each one has their own way of “working” and distributing their merits.

They were assigned as a merit source, applied as a merit source but they are free to retire as a merit source.

Some merit sources were disqualified by theymos and theymos even rollbacked some wrong merit transactions.

A merit source after appointed does not mean it will take that role forever.

It's like a normal job, I imagine it as if it were a company... And I'll leave you with this analogy... A new person is promoted to this new position, so it's perfectly acceptable that they have to adapt to the new reality and I imagine that the managers and forum mods follow this person more closely until they are fully familiar with their new position... If they do not perform the role satisfactorily, they will naturally be replaced by another... It is not always easy to make the right choices , even more so in things that involve people.

[Nangiconference]

If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

I see no reason while a merit source will dislike anybody, this is a no man land. Everyone is on its own. I do not see what feelings will be doing in the forum. Bitcoin is decentralised so also to the forum if not for moderators and administrators who are supervising the forum activities. The last time I checked,  merit is only to be earned when you make a quality post(contribution) notwithstanding whosoever that made the post. Once a post is quality enough to be merited, it will be merited just like our Facebook, where there are numerous post and the one that catches your interest gains your like.
Merit and Facebook 'likes' are synonymous. When you come across a good post, you like it. It becomes a source of inspiration to the poster spurring him or her to do more.

[freedomgo]

Before anything, these are human beings you are dealing with & emotions are very much part of the biology!
So understanding the point raised means , if you choose a path that  will put you in bad books with merit sources and not get you these golden nuggets you have yourself to blame, and let's not forget this isn't an easy undertaking especially that this isn't a paid job for them to spend time going through threads looking for posts that qualify to be merited... otherwise naturally merit should be based on the quality of the most just like they do when making applications when trying to become merit sources.

Honestly, it’s hard to send merits to those posters you dislike in the forum. But I don’t think we should tolerate this kind of feeling towards other members in the forum since we are here not to compete nor take an edge over others but to work harmoniously with other members. Anger nor envy has no room in the forum.

Merits are actually given freely to those who are deserving high quality posters in the forum, and I think we should stick to this idea because merits should be earned, not to serve as an exchange for some favors.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

OP, I understand exactly what you tried to describe.. you see, I also noticed this way-back, and I brought it up - but that wasn't because I was slow in getting merited (atleast in my own timing) or because my post wasn't worth meriting -- at some point, I needed to stop writing congratulatory messages since it was seen as a way of "begging for merit".. That's the last think I'd do -- ( I didn't have any hate about whoever earns alot), it was because i thought they could be some "recognition policy" that actually barrier newbies or other middle-class posters to rank up easily... until I realized I was right, Jay convinced me otherwise... don't get me wrong! (he might not be practically doing the same thing, based off of the fact that he's an old, respectable member of this forum, but some peeps don't even care... Believe that if you want it but I'll tell you the truth.
I'll always pay so much respect to the few merit sources that have stooped low to see the need of realizing the potentials in every rookie

Sandra 🧑‍🦰

[AnonBitCoiner]

Honestly, it’s hard to send merits to those posters you dislike in the forum.

It's an irresistible thing for most people.  They can't keep personal grudges aside in such matters, besides, why would you want someone to be considered good when you generally don't like them or what they do?

Even if it doesn't have anything personal to do with the user who is to receive the Merits, if you don't like their posting habits, writing style, or anything in general, you wouldn't want to Merit a post that they do which is constructive.

However, if one can let go of their ego, that would be much better, for the forum. 

[Zoomic]

Honestly, it’s hard to send merits to those posters you dislike in the forum.

It's an irresistible thing for most people.  They can't keep personal grudges aside in such matters, besides, why would you want someone to be considered good when you generally don't like them or what they do?

Even if it doesn't have anything personal to do with the user who is to receive the Merits, if you don't like their posting habits, writing style, or anything in general, you wouldn't want to Merit a post that they do which is constructive.

However, if one can let go of their ego, that would be much better, for the forum. 

This is a very nice observation. If people begin to award merits base on personal sentiments and bias, then the purpose of awarding merits will be defeated. Many people have already blacklisted some members in their minds, no matter the quality of your post, they will never appreciate it. This is a very wrong approach, personal sentiments should be kept aside while appraising a person's work. Merits should be given to those who deserve it irrespective of personal differences with the poster.


I can still remember my first merit in the forum, I thought it was quite easy getting merits, after all  I just have to put few good sentences together and I'll be merited . It took me some time before I got my first merit. I chased merits for some time but didn't get it. My first merit came when I stopped thinking about how to get merits and started giving out good information instead. A good post from a dedicated poster will always get a well deserving merit at the right time.

[stadus]

Honestly, it’s hard to send merits to those posters you dislike in the forum.

It's an irresistible thing for most people.   They can't keep personal grudges aside in such matters, besides, why would you want someone to be considered good when you generally don't like them or what they do?

Even if it doesn't have anything personal to do with the user who is to receive the Merits, if you don't like their posting habits, writing style, or anything in general, you wouldn't want to Merit a post that they do which is constructive.

However, if one can let go of their ego, that would be much better, for the forum.  

Meriting a post should not be based on ego or personal emotions, but you merit a post because the poster deserves it. By being deserved means you are appreciating his post because it’s based on fact, and you give him merit because it’s actually on point on the given topic. There are great posters in the forum, but there are actually exceptional posters that exceed our expectations from them. Those are the ones that should be given higher appreciation so that they will continue to inspire and motivate others to do the same thing.

[Learn Bitcoin]

Even if it doesn't have anything personal to do with the user who is to receive the Merits, if you don't like their posting habits, writing style, or anything in general, you wouldn't want to Merit a post that they do which is constructive.

But that does not happen always. There are some people whom I don't like because of their weird behavior and I don't like some of them for their writing and habits. But, Sometimes I find their posts go with my ethics and I agree with them. I know some of my locals who did some abuse in the past (And probably still do), but sometimes I see valuable posts from them as well which I merit too.

If someone disagrees with my point of view yet posts something logical that makes sense, I send them merits too. For example, I do not support those ordinal things, but they are a supporter of these Ordinal things, If they post something that makes sense, I guess they deserve to be merited.

[Obari]

If a merit source do not like you, another merit source will like you unless you are not posting something useful.

I see no reason while a merit source will dislike anybody, this is a no man land. Everyone is on its own. I do not see what feelings will be doing in the forum. Bitcoin is decentralised so also to the forum if not for moderators and administrators who are supervising the forum activities. The last time I checked,  merit is only to be earned when you make a quality post(contribution) notwithstanding whosoever that made the post. Once a post is quality enough to be merited, it will be merited just like our Facebook, where there are numerous post and the one that catches your interest gains your like.
Merit and Facebook 'likes' are synonymous. When you come across a good post, you like it. It becomes a source of inspiration to the poster spurring him or her to do more.

+1 for you as I see that you’re actually making great improvements on your writing which is a great sign that consistency is one of the best way to learn on the forum and I like it when people learn from criticism rather than drawing negative energy.
There is absolutely no need for emotions while sending merits but the truth is that, there is actually favouritism as one might find favour in the sight of a merit source if there writings are good and pleases the merit source at all time.
This simply means that you have to be very consistent with your writings especially when your writings are good and qualities are top notch and in conclusion, merit will be earned with good post irrespective of who the sender is.

[Etranger]

Meriting a post should not be based on ego or personal emotions, but you merit a post because the poster deserves it.

Giving merits depends not only on the quality of the post. If this were so, then absolutely every useful and interesting post would receive merits. But many such posts go unnoticed, or those who would like to give merits for them do not currently have such an opportunity. That is why there are topics that are created by senior members of the forum, who themselves receive a lot of merits, in which they conduct additional review of posts that can ultimately receive merits.

And yes, emotions, subjective assessment, preferences and other 'biased', 'subjective' and not always rational things are present when giving merits. This is even evidenced by the fact that the same post can receive a different number of merits from different people. It would seem that these people all appreciated the post, but for some reason everyone did it in their own way.

[Casdinyard]

-----Emotions-----Opinions-----Fact------

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone.

UPDATE 18th November: I now been on the forum a bit longer then the time I created this topic and I truly believe being a Merit-Source is not as easy or fun as it may look like.
So I want to take the time to say Thank you to all Merit-Sources that seeing this with neutral eyes! 🙏

Generally speaking, how and why they send merits to people (as long as it doesn't spark suspicion) isn't anyone's business but the sender's. For one, they got their Smerits fair and square and whatever they'd like to do with it, they're the ones that should only be held responsible and accountable for. They want to hoard it and perhaps grant someone with a rainshower of merits by checking their good posts? By all means, they want to spend it as they come and grant people they want to give merits to regardless of how good they post or not? None of our business yet again. The only time it should concern us if there's something fishy going on which warrants the attention of the forum and the moderator. People hoarding merits and then sending them all at once on a single post without particular reason or whatsoever so they can cycle the Smerits, hackers getting into people's bitcointalk accounts and sending merits to a single account to hoard Smerits and possibly amp their reputation in the forum illegally and artificially, etc. are just among the very reasons as to why people should take notice of people sending merits. In my opinion, anything else that's not what's mentioned here should be let go.

It's theirs to keep and send to people, for merit sources the same can be said but they certainly have virtues that require them to send merits under a principle and not necessarily just cause they like the person. But in any case they could easily do that and I believe no one's gonna bat an eye really.

[BabyBandit]

-----Emotions-----Opinions-----Fact------

Hey! I was thinking of something this night, this thing about merits and the merit-sources. If you are a merit-source, should you always give away merit to good posts even if you dislike the user that created the post?
Or are you allowed to be controlled by your feelings and only give away merit to people you like or don't know?

It's a different a user can give merit to whoever he wants, because it's his/hers own merit and they can do whatever they want with it. But a merit-source how should he act? Without feelings or with feelings?

I don't trying to blame anyone, or create any drama and I am not disappointed with my low merits, I am quite happy and proud that I already got ten merit and being a member rank, so I am in no rush what so ever to rank up, I actually love the farming and the journey, because when and if I reach Legendary nobody can say I didn't earn it the right way. I rather let it take years of honest farming then months of cheating.
But back to my question, what do you think aboiut merit-sources when they handle out merit? They  should give merit to all good posts right, even if a user they dislike made a very good post. Or is it okay to just skip to give that user merit even that he made a very good post?

Maybe this come as bit confusing, I am sorry my English is not 10/10. But I hope you will understand! Great weekend everyone.

UPDATE 18th November: I now been on the forum a bit longer then the time I created this topic and I truly believe being a Merit-Source is not as easy or fun as it may look like.
So I want to take the time to say Thank you to all Merit-Sources that seeing this with neutral eyes! 🙏

Generally speaking, how and why they send merits to people (as long as it doesn't spark suspicion) isn't anyone's business but the sender's. For one, they got their Smerits fair and square and whatever they'd like to do with it, they're the ones that should only be held responsible and accountable for. They want to hoard it and perhaps grant someone with a rainshower of merits by checking their good posts? By all means, they want to spend it as they come and grant people they want to give merits to regardless of how good they post or not? None of our business yet again. The only time it should concern us if there's something fishy going on which warrants the attention of the forum and the moderator. People hoarding merits and then sending them all at once on a single post without particular reason or whatsoever so they can cycle the Smerits, hackers getting into people's bitcointalk accounts and sending merits to a single account to hoard Smerits and possibly amp their reputation in the forum illegally and artificially, etc. are just among the very reasons as to why people should take notice of people sending merits. In my opinion, anything else that's not what's mentioned here should be let go.

It's theirs to keep and send to people, for merit sources the same can be said but they certainly have virtues that require them to send merits under a principle and not necessarily just cause they like the person. But in any case they could easily do that and I believe no one's gonna bat an eye really.

"Should Merit-Sources send merit based on their feelings or quality of the post?" 

[nutildah]

"Should Merit-Sources send merit based on their feelings or quality of the post?"  

I'll chime in on this one. For me, the answer is both. Of course, the quality of a post should be at the center of whether or not it deserves a merit. Other factors include:

 - how close is the account to ranking up, and does the general quality of their posts suggest they are worthy of ranking up?
 - did they buy their account, are they likely to be multi-accounting or cheating campaigns/lenders/contests?
 - is there a possibility they are a scammer looking to build some kind of cred via obtaining merits to perform a scam of sorts?
 - do I get an immediate sense of dishonesty/disingenuity about them in any way?

So yeah, you could say a lot of these extra criteria are based on "feelings," or intuition, or both. Really I'm not that strict; I don't always go down this checklist before meriting a post. But there's few things on the forum that bother me more than watching a scammer or shitposting spammer rank up. It cheapens the meaning of the ranks for everyone else who is here to play by the rules and make a genuine contribution.

[liasbaa]

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

I think your opinion is exectly! But we are always running behind the merit. We should be getting knowledge at first, after getting the proper knowledge the merit will run behind us.

[EarnOnVictor]

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

I think your opinion is exectly! But we are always running behind the merit. We should be getting knowledge at first, after getting the proper knowledge the merit will run behind us.

I've read this story over and over again, but it is not particularly true. Many would chase after the merits but with quality posts and would get it, while others would not chase after it and have quality posts and would still not get it. Nonetheless, some with lesser quality posts would chase after the merits and get it even more, so what you said is though a general saying here. but it's not particularly true.

The merits distribution on this forum is so unexplainable, regardless, do your bit and leave the rest. Nonetheless, if you are writing quality posts, it will often attract merits no matter how little.

[Distinctin]

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

I think your opinion is exectly! But we are always running behind the merit. We should be getting knowledge at first, after getting the proper knowledge the merit will run behind us.

I've read this story over and over again, but it is not particularly true. Many would chase after the merits but with quality posts and would get it, while others would not chase after it and have quality posts and would still not get it. Nonetheless, some with lesser quality posts would chase after the merits and get it even more, so what you said is though a general saying here. but it's not particularly true.

The merits distribution on this forum is so unexplainable, regardless, do your bit and leave the rest. Nonetheless, if you are writing quality posts, it will often attract merits no matter how little.

Exactly. Just do what you think is right, and if you think that certain post deserves a merit, then go. In the end, we all give merits based on our own analysis. Of course, some feelings are inevitable, so it could be that others give merits because there is positive feeling towards the owner of the post. But whatever it is, just mind your own. In the end, posts that are good and highly meaningful to other members deserve to be merited, although not all valuable posts are given the same opportunity.

[Casdinyard]

"Should Merit-Sources send merit based on their feelings or quality of the post?" 

Kinda general and drawn out when I started to capitalize on every merit sender instead of just merit sources, yeah I know but the thing is this topic's gonna boil down to that at the end of the day. Every merit source in this forum's got their own way of cycling the merits among the users, but the main gist of their job is that they only send merits to people they see fit, which oftentimes coincides with the quality of their posts among certain factors. The discussion literally ends there.

All I'm saying is that, it wasn't for us to say or tell them who to merit and how much. They could send it to people they like or personalities they deem as friends in here and it wouldn't really matter. Long as the merits are cycled and there's nothing fishy going on, they are good.

Am I wrong? Do we have specific guidelines stating that merit sources, and everyone who has merits to share are required to only send those merits to posts that they feel are good in quality and structure (I mean the intent is there, but where is it explicitly stated that they have to abide by these rules?)

[OgNasty]

Before anything, these are human beings you are dealing with & emotions are very much part of the biology!
So understanding the point raised means , if you choose a path that  will put you in bad books with merit sources and not get you these golden nuggets you have yourself to blame, and let's not forget this isn't an easy undertaking especially that this isn't a paid job for them to spend time going through threads looking for posts that qualify to be merited... otherwise naturally merit should be based on the quality of the most just like they do when making applications when trying to become merit sources.

Honestly, it’s hard to send merits to those posters you dislike in the forum. But I don’t think we should tolerate this kind of feeling towards other members in the forum since we are here not to compete nor take an edge over others but to work harmoniously with other members. Anger nor envy has no room in the forum.

Merits are actually given freely to those who are deserving high quality posters in the forum, and I think we should stick to this idea because merits should be earned, not to serve as an exchange for some favors.

It's especially hard to send some people merits when you've ignored them.  As a merit source, I try to give merit to those who deserve it and not just those who cycle it back and forth.  However, I have ignored quite a few people on these boards for various reasons.  Those people who have been ignored will never get a merit from me, not just because I don't like them, but because I literally can't even read their posts.  I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere...  Don't be a total dick or spread lies about people if you want them to read what you have to say. 

[vapourminer]

It's especially hard to send some people merits when you've ignored them.  As a merit source, I try to give merit to those who deserve it and not just those who cycle it back and forth.  However, I have ignored quite a few people on these boards for various reasons.  Those people who have been ignored will never get a merit from me, not just because I don't like them, but because I literally can't even read their posts.  I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere...  Don't be a total dick or spread lies about people if you want them to read what you have to say. 

i merit people on ignore. because you do see their quoted text in other posts. so on occasion i will see an ignored persons quoted post thats decent, go to the original post and unhide it and merit it.

people go on ignore for a variety of reasons and even assholes make the occasional good post.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Giving merits depends not only on the quality of the post. If this were so, then absolutely every useful and interesting post would receive merits. But many such posts go unnoticed, or those who would like to give merits for them do not currently have such an opportunity. That is why there are topics that are created by senior members of the forum, who themselves receive a lot of merits, in which they conduct additional review of posts that can ultimately receive merits.
<snip>

Yep, and there are many other reasons why some posts receive merits and some don't--but we could go back and forth with that all year and nothing would be resolved.

I already made a reply in this thread, but I just want to say that I do my best to keep emotions out of my merit-giving behavior and I like to think I do a decent job of that, since there aren't too many members here I really dislike (and the ones I don't like are all Legendary ones, and since I try to merit lower-ranking members, that's my excuse). 

But I mean, come on.  People can't be expected to always be impartial when evaluating a post and who it was written by, nor are merit sources even expected to give merits to every single post they find interesting.  There are plenty of merit sources and non-merit source members with sMerits to hand out who could give merits to posts that someone wouldn't because of political disagreements/dislike of the poster/whatever.

[Kingperry22]

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

I think your opinion is exectly! But we are always running behind the merit. We should be getting knowledge at first, after getting the proper knowledge the merit will run behind us.

As a newbie, the merit things sound impossible to get. In defense of my reasoning of conviction is only the legendary Members that gives merits that is only if they found your post interesting. my question is it only a particular group of members that gives merit?

[Troytech]

I can say most of merit sources are objective, while most of non merit sources are subjective.

Example:
1. A merit source with 5K merits give someone merit, then this user will merit back the merit source in the next post or other post because he want to make the merit source notice to him or giving more merit.

It's not very right to assume that sending merit to a merit source is meant for them to notice you, yeah some can do it but not all, and have you noticed that old members on the forum with high rank up and merit up to 3k and above earn merit so frequently that even if you where to give them merit they won't notice you.

Some times it's out of appreciation than to get attention.

There are plenty of merit sources and non-merit source members with sMerits to hand out who could give merits to posts that someone wouldn't because of political disagreements/dislike of the poster/whatever.

IMO I think it's quite balanced, everyone was given the privilege to also merit post that they like and feel it deserves merit both merit sources and non-merit sources alike, and I think merit is distributed based on individual preference, I might like a post not because it was helpful to me but because it was well constructed and I gave it merit based on that.

[jokers10]

One truth is: the more you chase merits, the more the merits will escape you... let things happen, participate in the forum normally, always be here, the merits will come naturally.

I think your opinion is exectly! But we are always running behind the merit. We should be getting knowledge at first, after getting the proper knowledge the merit will run behind us.

As a newbie, the merit things sound impossible to get. In defense of my reasoning of conviction is only the legendary Members that gives merits that is only if they found your post interesting. my question is it only a particular group of members that gives merit?

As to me, it is very good that newbie cheaters (like you, who use AI for their posts instead of fair communication with others) have problems with getting merit and ranking up. And I saw many good and honest newbies who got merits much faster than their activity grew. So sincere newbies who are really interested in bitcoin don't have problems with getting merits. And those ones who are starting with cheating... well, I don't think they should be on the forum.

[Jet Cash]

My attitude to awarding merits is personal, and a bit complex. I've still got people on ignore from 5 years ago, so they won't get any merits - maybe I should review this list if I get time. Another factor results from not reading a thread. If a title is printed in all caps, then I assume it is of low value, and I don't open it. Maybe I'm wrong in making this assumption, but it's something I have noticed over the years. I don't like swearing or aggressive behaviour, so that leads me to quit or ignore. I also ignore posters who quote large images or long posts. Seeing the same image re-quoted multiple times just clogs up the thread.

One thing I am concerned about is awarding merits in threads I have started. For obvious reasons, I tend to read those more than other threads, so I am exposed to more replies, and I tend to give merit to posts that I feel contribute to the topic of the forum. I am aware that this can create an unfair bias, but I do get rather a lot of merits to award, and I don't seem to have time to read most of the threads here.

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

[Lafu]

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

No that is not unfair or something else , i doing the same in my threads when it is a useful post and helps the Forum or any other User.
So there is nothing wrong for doing this , everybody has a different way and style for give other Merits.
Mostly when threads are was or getting started with questions about Crypto related things and they are interesting or good i also leave a Merit there.

[vapourminer]

One thing I am concerned about is awarding merits in threads I have started. For obvious reasons, I tend to read those more than other threads, so I am exposed to more replies, and I tend to give merit to posts that I feel contribute to the topic of the forum. I am aware that this can create an unfair bias, but I do get rather a lot of merits to award, and I don't seem to have time to read most of the threads here.

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

i havent started many topisc but when i did i found i tended to merit replies in my thread in a much different manner than someone elses thread. basically any reply in a thread of mine that wantst blatantly obvious spam would generally get a merit.

i am rethinking that now cuz i dont want people to post just to get a merit. and many peeps do now. its why we cant have nice things.



 

[Rikafip]

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

Tbh, I don't see anything wrong with that and I think that many of us are doing the same thing when it comes to threads that we started and are (probably) important to us.

i am rethinking that now cuz i dont want people to post just to get a merit. and many peeps do now. its why we cant have nice things.

There are quite a few merit farmers around that will notice anyone doing something like you did in your threads and will try to exploit it as much as possible but in the end its up to you not to award merit to those who are obviously merit fishing and those are not that hard to notice.

[vapourminer]

i am rethinking that now cuz i dont want people to post just to get a merit. and many peeps do now. its why we cant have nice things.

There are quite a few merit farmers around that will notice anyone doing something like you did in your threads and will try to exploit it as much as possible but in the end its up to you not to award merit to those who are obviously merit fishing and those are not that hard to notice.

youre not wrong but you may not realize just how lazy i am.

i would rather accidentally merit someone who doesnt deserve it than withhold a merit from some who does deserve one.

[Rikafip]

youre not wrong but you may not realize just how lazy i am.
i would also rather accidentally merit someone who doesnt deserve it than withhold a merit from some who does deserve one.

That is bound to happen no matter how much effort you put in to it so no point worrying too much (or at all) about it. Especially if you are a merit source.

I am not a merit source so I should probably be more picky when choosing who to merit, but like you I also don't like witholding merit and usually spend what I get in a matter of few minutes or few hours at the most.

[Sandra_hakeem]

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

That shouldn't even matter to you -- I mean if it's unfair or not... Why? Cus everyone can't just see things from the same perspective like you do....never!! But as long as it doesn't hurt you or blur the interest of the forum, then you're good with it...

i would rather accidentally merit someone who doesnt deserve it than withhold a merit from some who does deserve one.

Ayyyee!!! So much confidence was shown in that statement which, in turns could be true?....woo? am I to decide that?... It co-ul-d be true.... afterall, The very first time I saw the name "vapourminer" was him meriting a good reply. I've always known him for meriting more than he does post...aside from posting in WO thread

Sandra 🧑‍🦰

[philipma1957]

<big snip>

What do you guys think? Is it unfair to award merits in threads I have started?

As long as you reward in some other threads it is not an issue.

If you are exclusive to just your thread it is a bit unfair.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Well, this discussion have actually come a long way, I checked the date and can see that it's from way back 2023, and this is my first time of coming across this thread, and since the thread is still active, let me chip in my opinion.

I will use an example..

During a presidential election, there is usually a lot of presidential candidates or aspirants (whatever we chose to call them), and each of this candidate is promoting himself and the party his in to the general public seeking their votes, and the general public will cast their votes based on who they like and think is fit to be president, in the end, different people will vote for different candidates, but only one candidate with the most votes must win.
Now, when this candidate that won the presidential election is sworn in as the president of the country, is it right for him to chase all those who did not vote for him away from the country? Is it ok for him to boycott or ignore a city where he did not win in his developmental plan or agenda?.

The answer to the above questions are "NO", because the country is one, and a president should rule a country not with emotion or sentiments.
So also it is with merit sources, being a merit source is a previlege given to some hardworking from members here, and those who given such prelivilege should not abuse it, it is mandatory for them to merit good and deserving posts, regardless of who the post is coming from, not merit a post because the poster is their buddy or friend, that is wrong and an abuse of that office of being a merit source.

[Etranger]

Well, this discussion have actually come a long way, I checked the date and can see that it's from way back 2023, and this is my first time of coming across this thread, and since the thread is still active, let me chip in my opinion.

I will use an example..

During a presidential election, there is usually a lot of presidential candidates or aspirants (whatever we chose to call them), and each of this candidate is promoting himself and the party his in to the general public seeking their votes, and the general public will cast their votes based on who they like and think is fit to be president, in the end, different people will vote for different candidates, but only one candidate with the most votes must win.
Now, when this candidate that won the presidential election is sworn in as the president of the country, is it right for him to chase all those who did not vote for him away from the country? Is it ok for him to boycott or ignore a city where he did not win in his developmental plan or agenda?.

The answer to the above questions are "NO", because the country is one, and a president should rule a country not with emotion or sentiments.
So also it is with merit sources, being a merit source is a previlege given to some hardworking from members here, and those who given such prelivilege should not abuse it, it is mandatory for them to merit good and deserving posts, regardless of who the post is coming from, not merit a post because the poster is their buddy or friend, that is wrong and an abuse of that office of being a merit source.

An abuse of this position, in my opinion, would be a deliberate disregard for some personal reasons for posts that actually deserve merits. For example, because the merit source doesn’t like the user or there are some long-standing grievances against him and specific user. But I don’t see abuse in emotions as such, because emotions, in principle, cannot be completely neutralized; they will be present in judgments. And it's better to use them wisely.