I was discussing the awarding of merits with another member recently, and he made me aware that we have both started to award merits as an alternative to posting a reply in a thread. If you agree with a poster, but don't have much to add to the point he has made, do you think it is good practice to award merits without quoting and posting an agreement? It will certainly keep the thread cleaner and easier to read, but it may be difficult for those seeking to build a post count to restrain themselves.
The idea seems to be great for merit sources but what about those (like me) who don't have enough merits (i have 7smerits atm) to give it to each and every post they agree upon and don't have anything to add? I think it's not practical for everyone. As mentioned earlier a "like" button would do the job. But merit, it has to be given to deserving posts.
Edit: Didn't see dkbit98's last post before posting :/ More like same thoughts.