Can you teach me about PREV and NEXT on this site?

I get a little bit lost on this site when I’m looking thru My Stuff, which is about all I do on this site. So can someone please teach me something pretty basic that I should probably already know?
I ask a Question. I find a TechRepublic Alerts email in my Outlook Inbox. It will display the Question text and that it was Posted By (ME) and When. Then below that it may list any Subject Lines (of things posted as a Reply or as Answer …. I don’t know) and who they were posted by.
So I can go right to the new item (again … Reply or Answer?) by clicking that link in the email.
But sometimes I will see <> near the top of that items display on the site after I get there by clicking the link of the new item.
This is where I get lost. I really wonder where that <> is taking me. I’ve messed with them and I just get lost! I really don’t understand how that is any different than scrolling up or down and reading stuff that was entered before or after what is at the top of that page’s display.
LOST! Can someone help teach a silly idiot?