Community feedback about merit and those whores

[Shishir99]

Whoring for merits drastically increased in our local thread. Our local friends have been celebrating almost every international day, such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Brother's Day, and Pizza Day. Since they are getting merits regularly for celebrating these days, now they do not want to miss any international days.

See these examples below:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg65413047#msg65413047
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg65405017#msg65405017
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg65296238#msg65296238
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg65209169#msg65209169
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg65060436#msg65060436
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg64881435#msg64881435
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg64851881#msg64851881
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg64689194#msg64689194
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.msg64464620#msg64464620

The question is, can I celebrate International Whores' Day which is coming in a few days? 

[Rashlyowl]

I've only been on this forum for a few days & your thread is the first one that made me laugh out loud. It's a difference if I refer to our local board. Didn't expect there to be such ridiculous things here. @Xal0lex is the one responsible here, because out of all the posts you put in the list, he's the only one who gave merit to them.

[Hazink]

@Xal0lex is the one responsible here, because out of all the posts you put in the list, he's the only one who gave merit to them.

You don't blame someone for being generous with pure intentions; those who took advantage of generosity are the ones to point fingers at. You might say if the mentioned source doesn't merit those posts, such acts won't continue, but you can't change someone from being good because of the reckless behaviour of others.

From the link shared above, not all of those posts were merited; at least I was able to translate a few, and the one that talked about birthday celebrations was not merited, which shows that Xal0lex doesn't just merit all of them but picks the ones considered to be worthy of merit.

[Rashlyowl]

You don't blame someone for being generous with pure intentions; those who took advantage of generosity are the ones to point fingers at. You might say if the mentioned source doesn't merit those posts, such acts won't continue, but you can't change someone from being good because of the reckless behaviour of others.

From the link shared above, not all of those posts were merited; at least I was able to translate a few, and the one that talked about birthday celebrations was not merited, which shows that Xal0lex doesn't just merit all of them but picks the ones considered to be worthy of merit.

I'm not at all. I just find it funny when posts seem to be given merit when there are so many more deserving posts. If we talk about appreciating & being good, I think it could be just giving 1 merit, not 3, let alone giving 10 merits. It's very inappropriate in my opinion, I also see him as a staff, I don't think it's a good move considering he's someone here.

[lovesmayfamilis]

What can I say? Be simpler. You have a very kind moderator in your local section; I see this as support for your community. Xal0lex once awarded someone quite generously, and the rest also wanted to repeat this holiday. Don't you see the same in the topics about push-ups, in the topic about El Salvador, and of course in the pizza contest? It is noteworthy that Bangladesh is the most active section in baking pizzas. Almost every user, good or bad, participates in this contest. Honestly, your women should be happy that their men make pizzas. And yes, although they do not look like pizzas at all, the fact that no one is embarrassed to show them speaks of the courage and determination of your people. But seriously, you will not change much. What works for years turns into stability, and this is very difficult to change.

[DYING_S0UL]

Whoring for merits drastically increased in our local thread. Our local friends have been celebrating almost every international day, such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Brother's Day, and Pizza Day. Since they are getting merits regularly for celebrating these days, now they do not want to miss any international days.

Man!! Things were just too obvious. I believe I had given these users enough hints or warnings regarding this matter. We had several open discussion about this. I'm not saying celebrating a day is a bad thing. But making a post about every international day there are, is just obvious what these users are tying to achieve here. They saw a pattern that the mod gives out merit whenever someone celebrates a day, so they are now trying to exploit the mods generosity (not his fault obviously). It would have been understandable if they were celebrating a day of significance like the birth of Bitcoin. But no! They are coming up with every international day, downloading a pic of the net, writing a bunch of stuff and posting it.

Anyway, since you already created this topic, I believe if he saw this he would be a little less generous than before. And I hope that he does.

[Btcdeybodi]

Hahaha, OP just succeeded in making me laugh real hard i must say, lol. I was literally thinking that the merit whore you are talking about was some kind of merit cycling or abuse not knowing that you are talking about merits being given by a reputable member like Xal0lex. Actually, some folks takes advantage of some events to fish and farm merits but how many merits can they be able to get? 3 or less than, is not much and can't even be called merit whore.

[Findingnemo]

Actually, some folks takes advantage of some events to fish and farm merits but how many merits can they be able to get? 3 or less than, is not much and can't even be called merit whore.

I doubt they or anyone celebrate every day if there's an X and Y day that comes up in real life, and making posts about some important events is not a crime, but it's just obvious when they started posting about Brother's Day.

And they don't have a separate local board, just a thread where the discussion keeps on going, and in that case it can be pretty annoying when someone starts doing things out of nowhere only because they noticed merits are awarded for such posts while others does what is the core reason of being here which is about discuss bitcoin and crypto related matters.

[Ambatman]

Hahaha, OP just succeeded in making me laugh real hard i must say, lol. I was literally thinking that the merit whore you are talking about was some kind of merit cycling or abuse not knowing that you are talking about merits being given by a reputable member like Xal0lex. Actually, some folks takes advantage of some events to fish and farm merits but how many merits can they be able to get? 3 or less than, is not much and can't even be called merit whore.

If a merit source doesn't share merit people would complain
One is been generous and they are also complaining
If you take your time and check the link of OP you would realised he never merited all
Just those that he felt was worth it.
Take for example Happy international Dogs day (never knew this existed)
If I was the one I would have merited it due to my bias towards dogs.

Whoring for merits drastically increased in our local thread.

atleast is better than outrightly begging for it.

[yahoo62278]

It's no different than the circle jerk that happens in the wall observer thread IMO. People are going to see the opportunity to get merit and exploit it however they can to get to legendary rank.

What bothers me or potentially bothers me is how many future scammers are ranking up because of the merits they are gonna or are trying to gain?

Merits can be given for nearly anything people want to give them for, but be on the lookout for shady characters.

[Zoomic]

I have witnessed the celebration of international days but some in this list is funny and not worth celebrating...

happy dog day

This should be an off topic unless dogs have roles they play in bitcoin. I won't be surprised to see happy international cat day.

Happy Bitcoin Whitepaper Day

Source

I don't know that Bitcoin whitepaper day is celebrated. There should also be bitcoin first block day celebration.

Happy Victory Day.

I don't understand this one at all. Is it a national victory?

Happy sisters day, happy cousins day, happy uncles day lol.

I don't blame Xal0lex because his intention was pure, just that people try to abuse every thing they can. If you observe very well, you will understand he didn't merit all of those celebrations. He merited only those that are worth it.

[Jawhead999]

For merit, I don't see it should be discussed because the effect is still tiny, yeah he gave 5-10 merits, for that's for Senior Member users. It's different if he gave such amount to Newbie or Junior Member users.

As for discussion, I'm surprised if this kind post is allowed in local board. I thought it should be for Bitcoin, forum, and any kind discussion but has a relation with the country, not something like this kind celebration day.

[Shishir99]

Guys, please do not involve Xal0lex here. He has been moderating our local thread well. As lovesmayfamilis said, he is kind and generous. He moderates our thread, and when he finds a post worth merit, he sends it merits. But I think he didn't notice that an account farm is involved in this. They are just using him to get some merit.

Even though I am not active on the other forum, I know that the admin of that forum gave this circle of accounts a Red dot for abusing. I request you not to mention Xal0lex anymore. He is doing his job, and we should not question that. Talk about those people who have been using him.

[drwhobox]

I don't see anything wrong with these posts. People can post anything after all this a discussion forum. We really need to encourage members to be more active in the community so that the community expands even more. Bitcointalk community is still a very small size community. Help each others, if you can not help at least do not discourage them for the sake of saving some merits.

[LoyceV]

I have witnessed the celebration of international days but some in this list is funny and not worth celebrating...

And they wonder why they don't get a dedicated local board....

[Zoomic]

I have witnessed the celebration of international days but some in this list is funny and not worth celebrating...

And they wonder why they don't get a dedicated local board....

Only if they can read here and make their discussion atleast 80% bitcoin discussion, the remaining 20 can go to meet up, politics and the rest. They have more of off topic posts.

Guys, please do not involve Xal0lex here.

The reason attention went to Xal0lex is because of your topic title. If you can edit the title and remove merits from it, it will be neutral.

[Shishir99]

And they wonder why they don't get a dedicated local board....

First, the local community has to unite and apply for a local board, right? I know there was an application, but it is too old. As far as I understand, the admins know the real size of the community. It may look like we have 30+ active posters, but I think admins know how many of them operate alternative accounts. I think he would smile and stay silent when he sees the application again.

The reason attention went to Xal0lex is because of your topic title. If you can edit the title and remove merits from it, it will be neutral.

Why would I remove that? Isn't that obvious why they are posting these things? You should blame the abuser instead of someone else.

[nutildah]

The first time I saw this topic, yesterday, I laughed pretty hard. Then I saw it again today and laughed again.

I don't see anything wrong with these posts. People can post anything after all this a discussion forum.

The problem is these types of posts - as well as many others - are written with the sole intention of extracting merits; usually from merit sources. They are not written out of a genuine desire to contribute to the forum in any reasonable way, any more than they are written out of an actual appreciation for "Cousin's Day" or what have you.

We really need to encourage members to be more active in the community so that the community expands even more.

I agree but I'd rather attract people who have actual knowledge (or anything interesting) to contribute. Regardless of what I think, accounts are free to shitpost nothingness to their heart's content. Nobody can stop them, unless they are writing pure spam or plagiarism, of course.

Bitcointalk community is still a very small size community. Help each others, if you can not help at least do not discourage them for the sake of saving some merits.

It was much larger at one point, when it was the hub for discussion of all things Bitcoin, as well as altcoin launches & ICOs. Shitposting for merits should be discouraged, however. We should encourage people to learn and demonstrate knowledge & creativity rather than encouraging them to master the art of sucking up.

[DireWolfM14]

I know this thread is about the Bengali merit whores, but if you take a look at the the local sections as a whole you'll see this type of behavior in almost every one of them.  In most cases it's more subtle, but it still exists and to a much larger extent than in the Bengali sections.  I don't want to name any specific locales or people, when you start noticing it's hard to unsee it.  The main boards aren't immune, either.

Attention whoring in general is plague across the internet and all of social media, whether it's likes and followers on other social media sites or merit here on Bitcointalk, it's something we all need to combat.  Engagement farming for views almost always leads to a merit or two being dropped on this site.  Eyeballs are the new currency in this new world order, and we all need to learn to combat it.  It's a waste of our time and resources.  

We all catch ourselves engaged in meaningless discussions from time to time, at the very least we should be mindful and selective when sending merits.  It may never go away completely, but let's stop rewarding it.

[virasog]

They saw a pattern that the mod gives out merit whenever someone celebrates a day, so they are now trying to exploit the mods generosity (not his fault obviously). It would have been understandable if they were celebrating a day of significance like the birth of Bitcoin. But no! They are coming up with every international day, downloading a pic of the net, writing a bunch of stuff and posting it.

Anyway, since you already created this topic, I believe if he saw this he would be a little less generous than before. And I hope that he does.

Have you heard of reverse engineering? These people are doing precisely that. They try to find out where the merits are being sent by the merit sources and here they know that by Celebrating writing about the day can give them some merits, as they already saw people getting merits and everyone will want to try their luck  

Also, I don't want "Xal0lex " or any other merit source to become non-generous after reading this topic, as merit sources need to be generous by nature