They don't actually matter much(however people do use that number as a reference when you provide your opinion), but in the start, you should not pay much attention to it. If you get negative cookies, you know that what you posted was not appreciated by members. Then just stop posting about it(might have been a stupid question/skiddy question) But if you do care about cookies, contribute something good. Found it on the webs section is where anyone can contribute, EVEN a skid. In no way i am implying that you are a skid, but if you want cookies/reputation, find something useful information on the web and post it. You can always post good ebooks too. Aaaand many other things that you might be good at
I once made a post like this, made me lose my cookies too. I ended up with -10 or something, but now i got -1. That's progress right? [emoji14]