Therefore: when presenting content which is very close to an existing source, always add a statement in advance about its origin.
If they probably do not want to add a statement in advance about the origin of the existing source of the information they want to post, they can copy the entire existing source and put it in a quote box in the forumThat would be even better as it's indicating perfectly that it's quoted from somewhere else.
But obviously, this knowledge has not spread among Merit beggars for some unknown reason...
Very understandable as a merit source who is determined to spread his merits across quality posts. Some of the posts are quality and also lengthy. The irony of it, is that you can meet such a post when your are not in the mood to spend enough time in the forum, maybe just to have a glance.
Exactly! It's not the case for me but some Merit sources had some of their monthly allocation reduced when they didn't spend much because of vacations or other reasons.
That's also why theymos once made a statement to allocate rather 50 Merit for a very good post in such cases:
Well, it appears that your source merit either wasn't upped to 250 a month ago like me, or you are just letting it expire. Theymos gave me instructions to try and do my best to distribute all of it. I'm doing the best that I can; yet have already had complaints. I really despise this statistic. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=topsendban Now I am on the list that appears to point out merit abuse suspects. I was originally very honored to become a merit source. But now I feel that my reputation is at stake with every single merit that I am obligated to distribute. I know that I only have black trust at the moment. However, I keep checking my trust rating to make sure some DT member doesn't decide to red tag me because they feel that I am being "abusive" or derelict in my duty.
If they complain about amounts, tell them to complain to me. It's best if sources try to exhaust their source allocations, even if it means giving posts higher amounts than is typical. If you have 150 source merit and you only see 3 merit-worthy posts in a month, then I'd rather you over-give each of them 50 merit than let the merit expire. That way there are more people capable of sending merit, and the "merit economy" is less top-down.
If a DT member tags you for something stupid involving merit (ie. probably anything less than selling merit), then they're not going to be a DT member for much longer.
Aside from that, if people complain about whether things deserve merit at all, then that's something to perhaps think about, but if you conclude that they're wrong, then that's that. You don't need to stress about it or defend yourself constantly. It's conceivable that someday you and I will end up disagreeing too much about this stuff and I'll remove your source status, but it's really not a big deal.
The topsendban list is just a first indication of abuse, and many excellent people are on it. Your place on there acts as a sort of benchmark: eg. chandra12 has a similar score there, but whereas you are an extremely active merit-giver with a diverse selection of posts merited (most of which anyone would agree with), chandra12 only has two large merit sends. His behavior in comparison to yours while having a similar topsendban score is what creates a strong abuse impression.
I appreciate the work of you and other sources who take it seriously!
A very bold statement but it's understandable what's theymos said.