If users really don't know about the merit system,and what sMerits are,they shouldn't even be here in this forum. You can't expect theymos or anyone else for that matter to personally PM them about the newly integrated merit system. If people even go to their profile and click the merit hyperlink,they can know about sMerits. And there are so many threads in and out of meta(some jackasses are creating threads trying to "criticize" about the merit system in Alternate Cryptocurrencies board). So if users really want to be adamant ,let them be,they will realize they won't be able to rank up anymore.
Admin has made a thread about the merit system but it would have been better if he made it sticky as well. So many new threads opening about merit system may be because of this. Also, the official thread gets buried as we see more new threads in meta.
The forum is swamped with Merit and sMerit threads. Anyone who doesn't understand the system by now should go back to school, or maybe they should read some of the existing threads.
Merits aren't awarded just for posts that aren't spam. They are given to posters who make a useful contribution to the Bitcoin Talk community ( or they should be in my opinion ).
There may be some people who might be not that active in meta section. However, it is hard not to notice merits in own profile.