In my experience it all depends on the innate civility, or otherwise, of the people involved. I have seen gangs form on fora and unless you have been on the receiving end you probably wouldn't even notice it. Human nature is very cunning.
In other words the rep system is a blunt instrument and relieves the individual of the exercise of mental acuity necessary to develop free thinking. Free of the need to follow - any ideology or 'leader'.
I vote no. This 'Like' and 'Dislike' nonsense is to reduce your intelligence to a click.
EDIT : Fora need to be moderated and that is a personal matter. But for real D-Heads you could have a report feature that immediately takes the offending post offline, with justification by the reporter and last say to the mod.
Simon reacted to a post in a topic:
The reputation system
