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This was first time when my answer was marked correct, and I got straight +15 reputation. So, can anybody tell me why is it that we get such a boost by giving the correct answer? Why is this website designed in such a way so that only good answers are respected more than good questions? Even good questions deserve same reputation.

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    First of all, it is very hard (impossible really) to formally define a "good" question. A good answer on the other hand can simply be defined as the one that was accepted. Hence the 15 rep.
    – terdon
    Jun 11, 2014 at 16:08
  • @terdon good questions are those that promote good answers, are on topic and aren't too broad/opinionated.
    – Braiam
    Jul 14, 2014 at 1:14
  • @Braiam yes, obviously. However, formalizing that into an algorithm that can be used by a piece of software to automatically detect these features and reward the poster with rep is not exactly trivial.
    – terdon
    Jul 14, 2014 at 11:26

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You might find your answer here and here

You get reputation for lots of things on this site and other StackExchange sites - it is useful as the better a user is at asking and answering questions, the more reputation they get so they have the most reputation overall, which can be used to distinguish them from other users. Reputation also acts as an incentive to provide good questions and answers. An exception to reputation gains/losses is Meta (this bit of the site), where you don't earn reputation from as it just for questions about the site (full scope here)

Also, as a user with more reputation generally indicates more experience, users with more reputation are awarded privileges, which can be used to help manage the site.

Also, from this page:

When your fellow users vote up your questions and answers on a Stack Exchange site, you generate reputation. Reputation is a rough measure of:

  • how much the community trusts you
  • your communication skills
  • the quality and relevancy of your questions and answers

These friendly reputation leagues are an informal way of tracking your reputation within the community on a particular Stack Exchange.

Reputation is capped at 200 per day, but remember that bounty awards and accepted answers are immune to this daily reputation cap.

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