(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Before I start this thread, theres a few things i'd like to say. Firstly, this is all my own words and if not i will quote and give a reliable source to the site/person it is from. I am not asking for rep in this thread, I am informing people on the meaning of reputation.

How Reputation is seen on NextGenUpdate
Reputation plays a big role on the NGU side of things, its what keeps most users going. Although it may only be numbers and stars at the side of the screen, it means a lot to many people. Some users only post to receive reputation from others.

You can tell if somebody is liked or not from their reputation; Via the Post count/Reputation ratio. Of course, like in real life there are the high rollers who have high street cred, such as Dopey and Cpt.S. But what confuses most people is people asking for there reputation to be deducted, and want to hit Minus rep.

Reputation seems to go up in a positive correlation with post count, meaning the more posts you make, maybe the more reputation you will gain. Unless your name is Shiver and have 100+ Posts and 7k+ Rep :p

How is Reputation seen on FaceBook/Social networking sites
Reputation on social networking sites such as FaceBook is seen using the 'Like' button which corresponds with NGU's 'Thanks' button. People post, jokes and other comical stuff which all try to attract attention, some succeed in this, others don't. I think the only reason social networking sites don't have a 'islike' button is because it could put someone off posting what they think.

How Reputation is seen on Wikipedia
Reputation is the opinion (more technically, a social evaluation) of the group of entities toward a person, a group of people, or an organization on a certain criterion. It is an important factor in many fields, such as education, business, online communities or social status. Reputation can be considered as a component of the identity as defined by others.

Reputation, as distinct from image, is the process and the effect of transmission of a target image. To be more precise, we call reputation transmission a communication of an evaluation without the specification of the evaluator, if not for a group attribution, and only in the default sense discussed before.

Online reputation is a factor in any online community where trust is important. It affects a pseudonym rather than a person. Examples include eBay, an auction service which uses a system of customer feedback to publicly rate each member's reputation. Amazon.com has a similar reputation mechanism in place and merchants develop their reputations across different dimensions.

How is Reputation seen on Dictionary.com (Reputation's Definition)
Quoted from Dictionary.com
1. The estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public generally; repute: a man of good reputation.
2. Favorable repute; good name: to ruin one's reputation by misconduct.
3. A favorable and publicly recognized name or standing for merit, achievement, reliability, etc.: to build up a reputation.
4. The estimation or name of being, having, having done, etc., something specified: He has the reputation of being a shrewd businessman.

Through-out online communities such as NGU and other forums, it is what seems to keep the forum alive. I hope this thread has opened your eyes into how much reputation means to some people. Of course, theres always going to be the rep whore who tries to add a sarcastic comment in a thread trying to attract rep, but thats life.

Thanks, Oink

tl;dr

I see reputation as a waste of time.. it's just a number that people care about too much.

To me Reputation is to help people out and the community.

To me Rep is only liked if you have it and if you dont you dont care about it or want it badly.

rep to me just means that people like what you post, or they are dickriders <_<

Rep used to be a indicator of a contributing member.
At this point, it is given out like candy at a birthday party.

As motivation

I think it is a treatment for people to release their anger upon the world.

Colors, stars and numbers.

the post/rep ratio is what matters most. it determines how useful a member is. for example, someone wtih 1000 rep and only 200 post is good. someone with 5000 rep and 10000 post isnt good.