What are reputation points?

I noticed today that i had some and i am hoping it a good thing and not bad. but could someone please clarify this for me.

Thanks
Beauty the BP

green = +
grey = no point + or -
red = -

it doesnt have a colour code on my side just says 10 points on my side of things and I was wondering what that ment.

Beauty the BP

Everyone starts out with 10 points. When posting you can recieve rep points or hits. It's one of the little icons under the avatars. If you go to UserCP, you should see your rep total as well as any points you may have been given. They will link to the thread that the points were given to.

It's a way of giving special "kudos" to someone who makes a particularly good post (in your opinion) or to let someone know that you very much disapprove with how they are presenting themselves or their opinion in a post. (It is NOT meant to be used to express mere disagreement with someone's opinion.)