2- if you want Merit use your knowledge to post quality posts, for example make a simple guide for newbies on how to set up their own masternodes , i am pretty sure you will get a lot of merits for posting things you are good at.
Trouble is if you're writing guides for noobs then the chances are they won't have merit to give. The alt section is so goddamn noisy most people don't go in there.
In that scenario people with merit to hand out do occasionally start threads offering merit to posts highlighted by users for consideration like this one - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/giving-x-newbiejr-members-a-chance-to-rank-up-5085605
The places I've noticed most merit is handed out are - the meta section, serious discussion/ivory tower, the wall observer thread.
But you won't get it just for showing up.
