Everybody wants merit to get to the next rank and when that doesn't happen you just have to be at ease, no going up or down. Making your post unique and very informative makes  the merit flow but it all depends on the members who are reading you post and if they want to appreciate your work, without that I don't see any merit getting attached to your post and mind you, don't expect merit to always come whenever you make your post. But from what I observed, you have to work harder to get merit these days so I'd advise you keep your head up and always give the Forum something positive to talk about, getting into conversation will help.