There is a cause and effect relationship--all the posts I gave points to I liked and thus merited them.  But I've only got a limited number of sMerits, so I have to ration them.  And I usually only give them out for posts that are in really good English.   Spelling, punctuation, and grammar all count in my book. Typos I can excuse, but some people just can't write.    I don't merit posts that look like they were written sloppily.   

Other people have different criteria, I'm sure.   That's what's going to make this system work.