I definitely agree with your statements. Reputation depends so much on your personal level of trust with an individual on the chain. For instance, some people in the Steem Monster community have previously asked for me to act as escrow, as they held the view that I could be trusted to not take the money and run.

However, if that same trust needed to transfer into the steem silver gold community, I probably wouldn't have that same level of engagement and "trust-worthiness" to them,

I'm a big fan of the 1 person = 1 vote, and for you to be able to "review" people's profiles based on your feeling for their reputation. Reputation is a funny thing in that regard, however; and could be gamed. If people pay for votes, there's surely someone out there that will pay for reputation.

That's what a lot of political activists end up doing. There's no perfect system. I like to use my gut. The reputation number is nothing than a number.

Actions speak louder than numbers. :)

Thanks for your well considered response!

_{Posted with}