No. actually Reputation score has nothing to do with being a whale. That depends, if i have it right, on your rewards share. So it is possible to have a reputation of say 25 and be considered a whale, just as it is in deed possible, and there are many examples, to have a reputation of 70 and not be a whale!

Regarding how it can affect sorting on the trending page and hot pages, i think the first step is to make sure that whatever we call a reputation should in the true sense of the word, mean the same. That for me is a matter of technicalities. And if we can successfully manage to do that, the rest are only organizational, and we can sort and use it the way we see fit.

Otherwise as it stands, it certainly wouldn't make any sense in terms of ranking, because it does not reflect the true value and esteem of the community.