How active you have been on the site. You get points for participation and activity. click on your own level number in your profile and it will show how many points you got for what and how to gt more points to increase your "level".
Thanks. Very useful.
My guess is investment. Since it takes time and energy to reach certain levels, it discloses the amount of sustained interest and importance placed by participants. Probably also acts as a means of filtration that sidelines parties that appear on all sites as juvenile distractions. They seem to lack patience and move on when there isn't an emotional payoff.
The predecessors explained it well, but I'm fighting the temptation to give a wiseacre response. You're a newbie. You don't need that. Welcome.