In the beginning, the idea was good, and the goal was to push members who lack a small number of merits for a rank upgrade. A little stimulus for younger members is perfectly fine and proof that the forum is not as rigid as newcomers perceive it to be.
As in everything, every good idea turns into its opposition at some point, so this thread has become a place where users beg for merit and possibly congratulations on rank-up. So instead of being a place where members will prove their quality, the opposite happened.
I will not blame it on the newbies but blame it on old members because you know how this forum works. If someone post about about the little amount of merit needed to rank up, as an old member, you do not need to merit his what he posted but just go throughout his topics and posts history and check for posts that are worth giving merit. If he is qualified, you can the person merit and also merit what he posted here if you feel like. For those that are not worth it, do not merit the person's posts.
It is good to know that some people will abuse this and use alt to also apply which is very bad, but as long as they are qualified, merit them but be strict in the merit is what that I think. I think anyone that is listing good will continue to earn merit even if they do not post on his thread. This is what these people do not know.