I like both systems, and use them for different purposes, similar to what others have already said.

However, I like the rep system better, and the thanks system seems to have pretty much stopped the use of the rep system, which I think is a big loss to the site. When I was a newbie here, I really liked being able to check the rep of a person to have some idea of how much I should trust the advice they were giving. It isn't perfect, but the thanks system is worse, because it is easy for someone to get a large number of thanks just by posting "nice snake" on every picture thread.

IF we can find a way to have both and get the rep system being used more actively again, I'd like that. But if thanks is going to continue to overshadow rep and make the rep system mostly disappear, I'd rather go back to the old way.

Is it possible to make the rep button bigger, like the thanks button is, so more people would notice and use it? Perhaps even the same button could be used to access both systems, and it would pop up a dialogue asking if you want to give thanks, positive rep, or negative rep?