Bitcointalk has been active for over a decade and is still getting better everyday ,Though it has some hard times like the time it was hacked and others but still yet it continues to improve. Bitcointalk has been able to stay this long and improving because of contributions from members of the Forum starting with the founder Satoshi Nakamoto and other awesome members.
It is a fact that Most Newbies now join Bitcointalk just to make money and this is not the main aim of this forum but thankfully you can't really earn without contributing or by breaking the rules and regulations because there are still True members watching this Forum
So my advice for we Newbies is start thinking of a way of improving this forum first before earning.
Registering as a member in this forum has been one of the best decision I took last year. I've really learnt a lot in this forum concerning BTC and altcoins. Thanks to members as they've always helped me by answering questions concerning my curiosity. Each time I ask questions, I get many answers even more than enough. It is not exaggeration if I say, Bitcointalk is the best forum to be especially if you want to know more about BTC and Altcoins.