I think it depends on the post. Something doesn't have to be as long as Tolstoy's War & Peace if you can get the message across in a sentence or two. If something is needlessly long or a messy ramble most people will zone out, not read it or miss the point completely. I would try keep things concise but obviously sometimes some things need to be explained in minute detail.

My best piece of advice for those seeking merit is to look at the posts of others that are being merited or check the merit history of some of the more established/popular users here and you will see it's usually the posts that offer some sort of original opinion and are more than just one or two lines, or at the very least you can tell they've actually put some time and thought into what they're posting regardless of how long or short it is. I see a lot of users here just writing really generic posts that have been said a thousand times before. Nobody is going to merit them because they don't stand out. Make your posts stand out by the content, not just big fonts or lots of sentences but make it something people actually want to read.


Exactly. You don't have to just helpful either. Just speak your opinion and show people you've actually spent time on your post and this will greatly improve your chances of getting merit.