Merit is a relatively new addition to the Bitcointalk forum, designed to minimize the amount of spam that enters the forum. As the name suggests, merit can be used to reward posts that are particularly good or worthy. You can only level up your Bitcointalk account if you have the required amount of merit points. Many members seem to struggle to get enough merits, either due to low-effort posting or taking the wrong approach in other ways.

With this guide, I want to give everybody a fair chance by giving out some tips & tricks for earning merits. I will be focusing on improving your writing, as well as showing you the best places to earn merit. All methods listed here are fully compliant to Bitcointalk rules and guidelines.

---

Source: Image created by myself using pixabay image as background

---

How Merit Works

Merit is a point-based system that allows you to both receive and send merit points. The main gist of it is, that you can award people merit if they've written a post that you deem helpful or just good quality. When you receive merit points on one of your posts, you can also spend half of them on other members' posts.

To get a higher rank on Bitcointalk forum, you need to have received a certain amount of merit. Meaning that you can't just spam your way to a higher rank. Without merit, you cannot expect to ever participate in a signature campaign or get any sort of bounty on the forum.

The forum admin also appoints a certain number of established members as merit sources. They have a higher amount of spendable merit, which they award to posts that deserve it.

You can read more about merit here

---

Merit Rank-Up RequirementsSource: Bitcointalk screenshot

---

Post quality

Putting enough time and effort in your posts, is the most important factor in getting awarded enough merit to rank up. You need to have a sufficient grasp of the English language, in order for people to even contemplate giving you merit points.

You will probably not get any merits for replies that only consist of one or two sentences. I always try to write at least 3 - 4 lines of text, while also giving much more in-depth answers to questions.

This might all sound as pretty logical stuff, but I can assure you that this is where most people already fail. If you really pay attention to your post quality, you're already better equipped to earn merit, than the majority of forum members.

---

Efficient Ways to Earn Merit

First and foremost, visibility of your posts is an important factor when you try to gain more merits. If your post gets seen by a lot of people, you have more chances that someone will award it merit. Try to be the first one who posts a decent and long reply to a new thread. Stick to the more specialized boards, instead of general ones like Bitcoin Discussion or Altcoin Discussion.

A lot of merit tends to be given out in the Serious Discussion board, the conversation also tends to be of higher quality there. Actively participating in the Meta Section is also a good way to post meaningful content, people there will reward you for it.

Starting your own informative threads is almost a guaranteed way of getting awarded a fair number of merit points. Be sure to put a lot of time and effort into them, while also picking a subject that speaks to a lot of people.

---

Merit Giveaway Threads

All across the forum, you can find initiatives for earning some additional merit. Usually you will have to get your post history reviewed and then you will be awarded merits for your good posts. Be sure that your post history is up to standards and doesn't contain any low-effort posts.

This shouldn't be your primary way of earning merits, you should always try the organic approach first. It's certainly possible that these sorts of threads won't exist forever, they certainly do not give away enough merits to fully rank up. In a perfect system, threads like this shouldn't have to exist.

Check out this overview thread of all merit giveaway threads

---

Things to Avoid

• Do not post low-quality content - maintain a certain level of quality for every post you make
• Never post unoriginal content without providing a source and adding your own commentary
• Never beg for merit
• Do not buy merit from other forum members - You will get banned

---

My Thoughts on the Merit System

I've not really had to deal with the merit system, at least not for getting a better rank on the forum. Since I was already a Legendary member from before merits were added, they have absolutely no use for me at all. That said, I do get some sense of accomplishment whenever someone grants merit to one of my posts.

I'm overall in favor of the merit system, since it really does make people put a lot more effort in their posts. I can definitely understand that it's now a lot harder for new members to rank up. Not impossible though, some people have gotten over 100 merits in a couple of weeks.

I really do hope that some of this tips have been a little bit helpful!

---

Let me know what you think in the comments and consider upvoting or resteeming if you like this type of content!

---

Advertisement

---

---

---