Current issue
Currently you can check your sMerit balance only when you try to send sMerit to someone's post by clicking the +Merit link for the post.
Another issue for small-number sMerit holder is the sMerit balance is rounded off and you can't check if you have 0.5 sMerit.
Furthermore, it does not seem to be well-recognized in the community that the minimum unit for sMerit is 0.5 [EDIT: while sendable minimum unit is 1], or even the difference between Merit and sMerit.
[EDIT:
Another point is that in the current system +Merit link doesn't appear if you have 0 Merit and 0 sMerit, which makes Newbies and Jr. Members a little bit hard to know the existence of sMerit.
Of course if people read the theymos' post carefully they understand the system, but it's also true that some people are confusing, so I tried to think about how the interface could be improved.]
These issues prevent smooth Merit/sMerit circulation.
Proposal
I think one can solve these issues by improving the interface, specifically, by
1) introducing sMerit balance to Profile page and under the name at one's post,
2) making 0.5 sMerit visible there.
The new interface requires minimal effort to implement, resolves the above issues, and also answers repeated questions such as "how to check my sMerit", "why I can't send sMerit", "why I have 0 sMerit when I received 1 Merit" etc.
Of course a user's sMerit balance should be visible only by him/herself, otherwise people might rush to people who have a large number of sMerits.
[EDIT: so sMerit balance should be still hidden from other accounts just like email address.]
The following images are what I have in mind, the left one is the current interface, the right one is my proposal:
[EDIT: highlighted in images that only the account holder can check the sMerit balance]
Profile page
https://i.imgur.com/DEXVxNH
Each post
https://i.imgur.com/5DZ7nwN
Currently you can check your sMerit balance only when you try to send sMerit to someone's post by clicking the +Merit link for the post.
Another issue for small-number sMerit holder is the sMerit balance is rounded off and you can't check if you have 0.5 sMerit.
Furthermore, it does not seem to be well-recognized in the community that the minimum unit for sMerit is 0.5 [EDIT: while sendable minimum unit is 1], or even the difference between Merit and sMerit.
[EDIT:
Another point is that in the current system +Merit link doesn't appear if you have 0 Merit and 0 sMerit, which makes Newbies and Jr. Members a little bit hard to know the existence of sMerit.
Of course if people read the theymos' post carefully they understand the system, but it's also true that some people are confusing, so I tried to think about how the interface could be improved.]
These issues prevent smooth Merit/sMerit circulation.
Proposal
I think one can solve these issues by improving the interface, specifically, by
1) introducing sMerit balance to Profile page and under the name at one's post,
2) making 0.5 sMerit visible there.
The new interface requires minimal effort to implement, resolves the above issues, and also answers repeated questions such as "how to check my sMerit", "why I can't send sMerit", "why I have 0 sMerit when I received 1 Merit" etc.
Of course a user's sMerit balance should be visible only by him/herself, otherwise people might rush to people who have a large number of sMerits.
[EDIT: so sMerit balance should be still hidden from other accounts just like email address.]
The following images are what I have in mind, the left one is the current interface, the right one is my proposal:
[EDIT: highlighted in images that only the account holder can check the sMerit balance]
Profile page
https://i.imgur.com/DEXVxNH
Each post
https://i.imgur.com/5DZ7nwN