Okay, I know what all of you are thinking? Hasn't this been done? And the answer is no. Sure there have been a few posts about node reputation. There's even been a node on personal reputation. However, I am going to take a different approach with this one so please bear with me until you have read the full text of this node. Thank you.

Does it matter if my node is down voted?
No. Of course not! Receiving down votes does not mean that I am a bad programmer. And it certainly does not reduce my personal reputation nor does not make me a worse person.

I came to the realization that I do not sweat the down votes as often as I used to. I expect my humor nodes to draw negative reputations. 8^D
But I still take offense when I work hard writing a node only to have it down voted without a reply as to why. It usually does not take me long to get over it though. I do not dwell on those negative nodes. I move on and compose more code or reply to some nodes.

Does it matter if my node is up voted?
Once again, no. If one of my nodes gets a positive reputation it does not mean that I am a good programmer. And it certainly does not make me any better as a person.

Do not get me wrong though! I enjoy seeing the reputation of my nodes increase. To me, it means that my post was accepted by the Perl Monks community and appreciated.

Does my low (or negative) node reputation mean that my node is any worse than another?
No, not necessarily. It might mean:

Does my high node reputation mean that my node is any better than another?
Once again, not necessarily. It might mean:

Does my node reputation matter?
This question always results in all sorts of answers. Some say yes because it means the node is worthy. Some say no because it only results in more or less useless XP. I say no and if you do not know why that I think so, then you really should promptly re-read this entire node from the beginning. ;)

Does my personal reputation matter?
Yes and no. What kind of answer is that you ask? Let me explain.

Yes, I should strive to be a better person. I should not try to hurt another Monk's feelings. I should always try to improve myself. I should always try to say and do the right things. I should try to help others. Even if I am not 100% successful, I will have improved my personal reputation in someone's eyes.

No, it should not matter what other people think of me. The thoughts of other people does not affect me directly. Sure, I might have to deal with someone's attitude if they do not like me. But remember that everyone is entitled to have an opinion of me, good or bad. If someone doesn't like me, so what? There are literally billions of people in the world that I could meet here.

What does my node reputation mean then?
Absolutely nothing! Node reputation is just an indication of what people think about my writing content, style, grammar, syntax, sense of humor, programming expertise, etc. So you could say that my node reputation is a reflection of several aspects of my personal reputation.

Node reputation is simply a means to an end. It came into being because the gods decided that Perl Monks needed a way for Monks to gain added responsiblies as they became more acquanted with Perl Monks.

Thank you for your time.

In reply to Node Reputation vs. Personal Reputation by Mr. Muskrat

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