Begging for merit should be treated the same as begging for bitcoin and either threads trashed or posts removed,
(Thanks; I will keep that in mind with my trigger finger on the Report to moderator button.) ...or, as Lauda said:
Begging for merit should be treated as attempting to trust farm. Therefore, those begging for merit should be permanently neg. rated IMO.
However, begging for merit is a social problem; and social problems need social solutions. Quoting part of what I myself said on the subject a few days ago:
Requests for merit must be declared extreme rudeness, a forum faux pas. Such a thing is fit only for social opprobrium, derision, sneers, and shunning.
In most cultures, fishing for compliments is viewed as something between boorish and unthinkable. Asking for merit is worse, because it may accrue monetary value due to signature campaigns. It is like begging a professor for a top grade, instead of doing work worthy of earning a top grade.
By contrast, those who have something worthwhile to say will take pride in earning merit the normal way: By making posts which others find valuable. Whereas those who have nothing worthwhile to say, as such have nothing to add to the forum.
[...]
Make good posts, and people will notice. Or shut up.
I think that the problem should be tackled from both ends: moderation and the trust system. Whenever someone begs for merit points, their post should be archived, removed and subsequently they should be tagged. The same should be applied for sales (although disallowed, it is unclear whether and what kind of ban this will result it), and a combination of both measures should be much more effective.
I keep looking at the other boards, but I'm having trouble finding posts that I like. There isn't really a lot about Bitcoin that is fresh.
I'll start looking at bounties soon, and maybe there will be something there. I've got a fairly broad concept of "crypto bounty". I include the rise in the value of crypto domain names as part of crypto bounty for example.
Most boards are mostly filled with shitposts. You are just going to waste your time looking.