Re: Tracking Low-Quality Merit Practices [Discussion/Suggestions] [S. Moderated]
I will start with the fact that you're not telling anything new. However, you seem to be missing a (small?) detail: merit sources have most probably read this, in a way or another already; those who are not merit sources most probably deplete their merit too fast to be meaningful "in the grand scheme of things".
If the background for this is that some want to earn more merit and it hurts when others receive theirs "too easy", I think that the solution may be a way to have as merit sources those who [1] spend a lot time here and also [2] read a huge amount of posts. Of course, point [2] is very difficult to quantify/prove, hence I have no better solution than what the forum already has.
So I'd suggest you focus on coming with good and fresh ideas
If the background for this is that some want to earn more merit and it hurts when others receive theirs "too easy", I think that the solution may be a way to have as merit sources those who [1] spend a lot time here and also [2] read a huge amount of posts. Of course, point [2] is very difficult to quantify/prove, hence I have no better solution than what the forum already has.
So I'd suggest you focus on coming with good and fresh ideas
This thread might attract some people who are butt-hurt for not getting merits. To this, my point would be: If they're not doing well in trying to get merits with their current writing style, knowledge, and experience, then they can report posts that get merits, and for reporting meaningless posts and citing why they think it's pointless/spam/irrelevant to the topic, it might create a trolling environment here too.
That way, we can judge the person reported for meeting such posts, and admins can take action on them. It will also set an example to others of what should be acceptable and what's not.
[1] - Yes, experience is necessary, and I agree.
[2] - If the person passes point [1], they are already ahead of that.
At this point, I have no better solution than keeping an archive of posts that get merits for no good reason; it would be even better to keep track of user(s) who keep repeating this behavior.
We can keep on updating this thread as time passes.