Do you guys think it is viable?
How many hours do people spend here a week to earn merits?
and than you receive only (max) $100 a week?
I don't think that's how it works you can spend the whole day but if you're posting nonsense and spam then it's useless and you're not going to earn merits and respect or you can spend a few hours but if you can post the best answers in any discussion then it's easy to earn these merits and gain respect.
Contribution is not a matter of hours it's the quality of your output.