Reputations

[The Saucepan Man]

Just out of curiosity, how much reputation do I have "to spread" before I can rate one person again? Evidently this is not something to be used on every post you may like or dislike...

I don't know the answer to the first question, but it seems a fair principle to me. First, it helps prevent people working together to "bump up" each other's Reputation. And secondly, it emphasises the point that Reputation is not to be given just for any old post that may take your fancy or state an opinon with which you agree (just as it should not be taken away simply because you disagree with a post).

Reputation should only be awarded in respect of those posts which you find particularly insightful, helpful, well argued, well written, witty etc. In this regard, it's worth filling out the reason for approving (or disapproving) a post, since identifying what exactly it is that you like about a thread will help you in working out whether it really merits a Reputation boost (and it will also tell the recipient exactly what he/she is doing right (or wrong)).