I believe that the reputation of hive is a middle ground, as for some it is nothing for others it is an important number, as you said yourself, it indicates how long someone has been here and much more, if the person has a short time of HIVE and a high reputation means that he really did a lot in a short time.

This reputation I see as a degree of trustworthiness that we have in a person or profile, if he has that high number, he probably did something that enchanted people to vote for his posts. it's my point of view.

!PIZZA