I recently discovered there's a bug on HIVE DApps that inconsistently present reputation values. Hiveblocks says one thing, HiveBlog will say another. Even on PeakD there's a difference in a score beside my post and beside my profile.
One of the things affecting the price of HIVE is the community. It is nearly inseparable. The global paradigm has not transferred over yet to blockchain finance, yet alone to HIVE specifically. And community means social assessment, like reputation. A person seeing their reputation dive, even falsely but coincident with spiteful downvotes - will signal volatile algorithms underlying the HIVE blockchain, and as a result, lower value.
If my reputation had dropped as fast as the apparent bug presented, after site materials emphasizing how difficult it is to acquire it - risking total censorship - I had to quickly reconsider whether I'd be investing my talents and connections in HIVE or seeking alternatives.
Luckily, it appears to be a bug, though I still have not received an answer on which reputation is "real" (and still would like one),HiveBlocks appears to be the most technically focused resource - where it shows less volatility.