Today I want to talk about the different types of reputation one can have on the Steemit platform. If you thought there was only one type, which is that number beside your username on your blog, then get ready to have your mind blown.
Because, there are actually four of them!

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What Is Reputation?

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Let's start with some basics.
Reputation of a person determines how they are viewed, respected, treated and interacted with in a society. There can be offline as well as online rep (short form of reputation).
So, even if you're an insufferable ahole in your actual life, you could be someone's God over the Internet!

Remember kids, your rep is in your hands. Which is why, it is important to know about the different kinds of rep one can have over Steemit, so you can be the best version of yourself from each and every angle.

Let's dive into it!

1. Number Reputation

What It Is

If you've read the FAQs and the Welcome tab, then you should be aware of this rep by now.
It is the number displayed beside your username everywhere you go on Steemit.

What Affects It

The number changes according to the votes received by your posts and comments.
It increases when you receive up-votes and decreases when someone flags you.
The degree of change in your rep due to a vote received is also affected by the person's Steem Power who gives you that vote.
So, if your rep is 25 and a user with rep 70 (and a lot of Steem Power) votes you, there's going to be a huge change in your rep, compared to a vote by someone whose rep is 30 (with less Steem Power).
Boy, that was a lot of rep.

Tips & Suggestions

• Don't beg for up-votes from whales.
  You'll be flagged and your rep will be in the dumps.

• Don't be discouraged that you start from a low rep.
  You can still post quality content and people will treat you well.

• Learn how to comment properly.
  Read more on that here.

• Say NO to unnecessary flag wars.
  Remember, if you flag someone, they can flag you back.

2. Wallet Reputation

What It Is

You may have your number reputation in the negatives but your wallet's balance in the positives.
A Wallet on Steemit consists of Steem Power (SP) and Steem Dollars (SBD), among other things. These two can be used to increase the value of other Steemit members and their posts.

_{A Wallet}
What this means is, if you have a lot of SP/SBD, people will still respect you for the power you hold. Sometimes a bit too much.
So much that they'll spam your DMs with links to their articles for your up-votes.
This is called begging.
Don't do it.

What Affects It

SP and SBDs are earned when people up-vote your posts or comments. The payout happens after 7 days. In the same way, if your post/comment is flagged, you lose all that you earned on it.
You can also receive them through transfers, so if you win a contest or something, the contest creator can transfer the same to your wallet.

Tips & Suggestions

• In the current market scenario, it is advisable to power up.
  This means converting your SBD to SP. Learn how to do that here.

• Directly receiving only Steem Power through posts.
  Instead of your payout being divided into SBD and SP, you'll receive SP in full.
  Do so by clicking "Default 50% /50%" in Rewards and selecting "Power Up 100%" while creating a post.

• Participate in lots of contests.
  There are many contests such as Meme Challenges, Wild & Strange Contest, Pimp My Ride and a lot more!

• Try to power up when the market is green!
  It's profitable to power up when the value of SBD is more than the value of Steem.

3. Community Reputation

What It Is

This is determined by your character. It is almost like an actual reputation that is determined by the people rather than your money/content/etc. It's how people perceive and treat you when you talk to them. This one's hard to change once established because of the very nature of people. Like they say - first impression is the best impression.

_{"Hello!" "Hi there!"
source}

What Affects It

When you interact with the community through comments on their posts and chat messages (on Discord or Steemit.Chat), people will make judgments on you based on how you talk/behave/respond.
Remember, the views of one person about you can become the view of every person there is. This is because opinions spread. And if there's one thing that majority of people absolutely love, then it's gossiping.
That means, if you treat 1 person good, 10 others will treat you better.

Tips & Suggestions

• Be kind, polite and humble when interacting with others.
  And you should be fine.

• Scamming, fraud, identity theft, plagiarizing, abusing etc. are looked down upon.
  Indulge in any of those and the community will kick your ass.

• Support fellow Steemers by up-voting, commenting and resteeming their articles.
  "Ask not what they can do for you; ask what you can do for them!"

• Join communities that align with your interests.
  There are various communities and groups for artists, musicians, writers, vloggers etc.
  Join them to meet like minded people who'll appreciate your content more.

4. Payout Reputation

What It Is

You may be having a negative numbered rep, not a lot of SP/SBD and even be disliked by the vast majority of people. But you can still have a reputation and that is through the amount of your post payouts. This one's controversial because the wrong kind of people too can have a huge reputation and fan-following just because their posts are paying out $$$s.
Sometimes, people don't care about the character of a person, as long as they are able to profit off of them.

_$$$
source

What Affects It

Most of those that fall under this category use vote bots. Either that, or they've got high-powered alt-accounts that always vote for their posts, no matter the type or quality of their content.
Once a post reaches the Trending page (even the first post of a user), it will only go up from there.
People vote for content that already has earned quite a bit of money so that they get a share of the curation rewards too.
Some even follow the accounts in Trending page.

Tips & Suggestions

• Strive to post quality content.
  And you might be the next one-hit-wonder if noticed by a whale!

• Don't blindly follow the users on Trending page for curation rewards.
  That's a waste of voting power. Eventually you'll unfollow them because your interests don't align with theirs.

• Don't stress yourself if your posts don't reach the Trending page.
  All good things take time. It is persistence on your part that will ultimately take you there.

• Vote bots are not worth it.
  This is a personal opinion. I think it's unfair for others if we use vote bots.
  Unnecessary content gets the spotlight whereas the organically growing accounts are further pushed back.
  Also, if you need vote bots to get up-votes, then your content is probably not worth posting in the first place.

In Conclusion

The best way to increase your overall reputation is to not sweat about it.
It's like the saying -

A watched pot never boils.

In the beginning, the number rep tends to increase in a fairly quick and steady pace. But as you near 50, the growth will be very slow. So, only focus on maintaining your posts' content and soon you'll notice that you're swimming among the whales!

Thank you for reading!

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Previously...

_{@yesaye was here}