[bardd]

I don't think people look at low-repped posters differently (unless they're on the red scale). I've never noticed people treating my posts differently and always take them seriously (when the posts themselves are serious).

Personally I don't rep people, but that's because I don't really understand the system. I think it's a nice system, not because it can tell you how knowledgable the poster is (as Ian pointed out, though it can give you a general idea sometimes), but because it can make a person smile and know his post made an impact on someone. And since most, if not all, FIRSTers are firm believers of GP, there's little risk of someone getting bad repps he doesn't deserve.