If you have read and explore the forum well, you will notice those posters who have earned higher number of merits, because of their useful and high quality posts that other members find it very helpful most especially to the beginners in the forum. Reading the information about getting merits is not enough, you need to find concrete examples in the forum so you can easily determine what makes a post becomes more meaningful and high quality post.

However, as a newbie that should not be your first concern. Increase your knowledge first about bitcoin abd on the forum. If you are knowledgeable enough, it will be easier for you to create meaningful posts that easily attract merits from other members.