What I've been noticing lately about the Reps is that most of the time Rep has been granted to someone who says something funny.
It's purpose was to be used when someone said something useful, now since it's now turned into a charisma rating, we had nothing to show to the posters who didn't get the rep because they aren't as charismatic.
Now at least when someone says something useful, you can at least thank them, instead of going through the whole reputation process. It's easy and takes less than a second to thank someone who posts something newsworthy.