[EricH]

It's the fact that I can bump someone up--or down--quite a bit that causes me to be very careful in giving out reputation. I have yet to give a red rep, and I tend to prefer a PM to a neutral rep, but will use either or both on occasion, if I think it's warranted.

On the other hand, I also don't look at reputation very much. Usually, it's pretty obvious how many people have given red rep when I'm considering dishing some out, so I lay off the rep button.