1) I hate these threads but I have in the past used them to inform OP that IMO they would be better off starting a topic in their own words and still link to the article.

I can't honestly say they've ever read my posts. Most of them are likely former bans for plagiarism.  They are not here to contribute they are here to earn and boost their post count.

2)After the change I did reward a newbie their merit , who was al.ost in this category. I did look st their history and they by no means spammed the forum, there were legitimate decent posts in between bounty applications.

I may have held off if the only decent post they had made came after the 1 merit rule, just to make sure it wasn't only to earn a merit and was part of a greater trend towards Improvement.

Edit:

Good because this is an example of a shitpost in the wild.