Well reputation is the little number beside your name. Each rep level is 10x harder than the previous. You need lots of high rep upvotes to get that number higher. Rep doesn't do anything at all though. Just sorta an indication I guess.
Your vests (steem power) is what gives your votes meaning and allows you to earn on curation rewards. I get about 8 bucks a week from curating content. I am just rolling in the stacks.
That makes perfect sense, just like TradingView in a sense, people will more be more inclined to read your posts if you have a higher level of reputation.
I could imagine they're piling up :)