Starting to think this is a bit precious of me.
I don't intend for recs to be indicators of my own highly refined reading tastes or whatever. But I suspect a little bit of that attitude has crept into whether I decide to rec something.
A rec just means that I found it compelling enough to want to share it more widely.
(There's also a bit of wanting to connect with other fans who like similar things, and wanting to send more readers to that author.)