something completely insignificant like internet points
Nothing has any value until someone gives value to something.
I give value to my reputation points - it's a force that drives me further into coming up with and posting content ๐ And sometimes I enjoy comparing my points to someone else!
I started fediverse with Lemmy but moved to kbin pretty much because of the reputation system being here.
Don't get me wrong though - I don't care that much about downvoting and I don't let it affect negatively on my behavior. At the end of the day, regarding other people in the Internet has more value to me than Internet points ๐
I'd argue that having a negative reputation could affect (some) people's behavior here as well.